5 TAKEAWAYS: Kings 5, Panthers 4

In a game that got perpetually more and more chaotic as it rolled along, the Florida Panthers came up just short in a 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.
"Back and forth," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "We were trailing for a while and couldn't' get the lead. We traded chances. The last shot that hit the net won. We had a chance to tie it at the very end, but it was about as wide open a game as you could imagine."
For a quick recap of the game, click
HERE
.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below

1. LOMBY SNIPES

He's got the hair for Hollywood, but a shot built for the NHL.
Opening the scoring for the Panthers, Ryan Lomberg broke the ice when he carried the puck into the offensive zone and ripped a screaming wrister over Jonathan Quick's blocker from the center of the right circle to make it 1-0 at the 11-minute mark of the first period.

A source of energy on the fourth line, Lomberg has shown time and time again that he can put up points as well as pump up teammates. After notching a career-high 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 2021-22, he's already tallied two goals and an assist in 12 games this season.
Contributing on special teams, Lomberg also skated 2:26 on the PK against the Kings.

2. TWO FOR SWAGU

There's a new leader in the goal-scoring clubhouse.
Putting the Panthers back on top in the second period, Carter Verhaeghe netted his team-leading sixth goal of the season when he sent a puck toward the crease that took a fortuitous bounce right off a defender's skate before sliding across the goal line to make it 2-2 at 9:45.

Not done there, Verhaeghe later registered his third multi-goal game of the season when he took a pass from Matthew Tkachuk and beat Quick to make it 4-4 at 5:04 of the third period.
"I'm just trying to find open spaces," said Verhaeghe, who has scored a team-leading seven goals. "My linemates are so good. They find me in different places on the ice. It's very easy to play with those two guys. I'm just lucky to play with them and I shoot the puck when I get it."

Only two players in the NHL have more multi-goal games than Verhaeghe this season.

3. GOALTENDER INTERFERENCE?

This still feels like it should've been a good goal.
On the power play, the Panthers appeared to regain the lead when a point shot from Brandon Montour clipped off Matthew Tkachuk and into the net to make it 3-2 at 17:39. However, the goal was immediately waived off after officials deemed that Tkachuk had interfered with Quick.
The Panthers challenged the call, but after an extremely long review the decision was upheld. To add salt to the wound, the Panthers were also assessed a delay of game penalty. But was it the right call? Let's first take a quick look at the NHL's rulebook to see what we can find out.
Here's a relevant passage on goaltender interference:
"Incidental contact with a goalkeeper will be permitted, and resulting goals allowed, when such contact is initiated outside of the goal crease, provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact."
Looking at the replay, it's clear that contact was initiated outside of the crease. Given that, it means that officials took the liberty of deciding if there was intent or not. On the play, you can see that contact occurs when Tkachuk turns to try and get a piece of the puck after the shot.
Was there intent? It doesn't seem that way, and officials certainly can't know for sure.
Overall, we've seen these calls go both ways in the past, and there's definitely a gray area that the decision falls into once all the chips have been laid out and it comes down to intent. In the end, officials can choose to think the worst of a player or give them the benefit of the doubt.
In my personal opinion, that ice belonged to Tkachuk and goals like this should always count.

4. LUOSTY LIGHTS THE LAMP

Even with some new personnel, the third line still cooks.
Continuing his strong start to the season, Eetu Luostarinen briefly put the Panthers on top 3-2 when he took a pass from Sam Reinhart and beat Quick from in close just 1:18 into the third period.

"We have a lot of depth," Luostarinen said. "Every player can score goals. It's a good thing we can play with four lines."
On pace to blow past the career-high nine goals he scored in 2021-22, Luostarinen has already recorded four in just 12 games this season.
With Reinhart joining Luostarinen and Anton Lundell, the third line controlled 56.25% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 against the Kings. They also led 0.54-0.27 in expected goals, giving the line a team-leading 67.06 xGF%, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.

5. BOB'S MILESTONE

Sergei Bobrovsky hit a lofty milestone in Los Angeles.
By taking his place between the pipes, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner officially appeared in the 600th game of his NHL career. In doing so, Bobrovsky joined Nikolai Khabibulin, who suited up in 799 career NHL games, as the only two Russian-born goaltenders to reach the 600-games plateau.
"This guy is absolutely not casual about his preparation," Maurice said of Bobrovsky, who made 34 saves against the Kings. "He's wired into his routines before and after. He believes in them, and they're hard. He puts the time in to get great. He's a true pro."
Per NHL PR, Bobrovsky's 339 career wins are the most through a goalie's first 600 games.