5 Takeaways: Lighting Ride Big 2nd Period to Win Over Panthers

SUNRISE, Fla. - Well, we're all square now.
After the Panthers took home the win on Thursday, the Lightning struck back in Game 2 of the three-game set between the intrastate rivals, cruising to a 6-1 win on Saturday at BB&T Center.

"We just didn't come to play tonight for the full 60 minutes," Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar said. "We were in there for a bit, in the game for a bit, but then the second period came and they just kept taking it to us.
"We expected them to come out with a big push. They're the Stanley Cup champions for a reason. We weren't ready for it, plain and simple. We didn't have the compete tonight. We'll look for a big bounce-back in the next game."
Following a scoreless first period, the Lightning kicked off a scoring spree in the second when Ondrej Palat took a pass from Mikhail Sergachev and sent a one-timer past goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on the power play to break the ice and take a 1-0 lead over the Panthers at 4:11.
A little over a minute later, Mathieu Joseph scored on a breakaway to double Tampa Bay's lead to 2-0 at 5:32. Throwing more fuel onto the fire, Tyler Johnson then lit the lamp at 12:58 to make it 3-0. Finally, with 10.4 seconds left on the clock, Johnson scored again to make it a 4-0 game.
"In the second period they came out a little harder than we did," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "They scored four goals, and obviously that's a really good team to give a 4-0 lead. We tried to battle back in the third, got a couple good chances, but scored only one."
Finally getting the Panthers on the board, Frank Vatrano ended goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy's shutout bid with a snipe at 9:47 of the third period that cut the deficit down to 4-1. Unfortunately, just 1:11 later, Alexander Volkov answered with a goal to put the Lighting back up 5-1 at 10:58.
With 4:15 left in regulation, Barclay Goodrow scored to lock in the 6-1 win for Tampa Bay.
Owning a 3-0-0 record following losses this season, the Panthers (8-2-2) will look to get back in the win column when they battle the Lightning (10-2-1) once again on Monday at Amalie Arena.
"We've got to be at our best to beat that team," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "Whether we got comfortable or not, give them credit. We approached the game the right way, but didn't handle adversity in the middle of it… We'll move on from this game and learn from it."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's loss in Sunrise…

1. VATRANO SCORES AGAIN

Vatrano made sure the Panthers wouldn't end up with nothing tonight.
Flying up the center of the ice, the 26-year-old speedster collected a pass from Brett Connolly and ripped an absolute laser of a wrist shot from the high slot straight over Vasilevskiy's glove and into the top right corner of the net to cut Florida's deficit to 4-1 at 9:47 of the third period.

Heating up during this three-game series against the Lightning, Vatrano has now scored in each of his last two games. Playing primarily on the third line this season -- as well as both special teams units -- he's racked up four points (three goals, one assist) and 18 hits through 12 games.

2. QUIET NIGHT ON THE POWER PLAY

Entering tonight's matchup with the second-ranked power play in the NHL with a stellar 37.6% success rate, the Panthers unfortunately struggled on the man advantage against the Lightning.
Finishing 0-for-4 with the extra attacker, their best opportunity to covert came in the first period when they were awarded a four-minute power play after Aaron Ekblad was hit with a high stick.
Unable to capitalize, the ice seemed to tilt in Tampa Bay's favor after that.
"We got a couple chances there," Barkov said of the elongated power play. "We could've scored there and we should've scored there. But obviously when one team kills a four-minute penalty -- or even a two-minute penalty -- it gives a big boost for a whole team. It changes momentum… We've got to keep working on it, keep watching video and learning stuff to get better."
Overall, the Cats have netted at least one power-play goal in seven of 12 games this season.

3. VASILEVSKIY STANDS TALL

Another reason the Panthers struggled on the power play was because of Vasilevskiy.
Of the 33 saves he made tonight, nine came on the penalty kill.
"When he gets in that rhythm and that groove, he's as good as there is in the game," Quenneville said. "You've got to find a way to keep traffic in front of him, be it on the power play or regular strength, get in his face a little bit."
Starting 12 of 13 games this season for the Lightning this season, Vasilevskiy, who took home the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's best goaltender in 2018-19, was dialed in from the start. After making 11 saves in the first period, he went on to turn aside 22 of 33 over the final 40 minutes.
According to NaturalStatTrick.com, the 26-year-old stopped seven high-danger shots tonight.
"He played great tonight, but I think, just like Thursday night, we can get to him more, we can get in his face a little more, we can make it harder on him," Weegar said. "I think we made it a little easier on him tonight. We had some chances and he made some big saves, but I think we can be harder on him next game."

4. PUSHING BACK

The Panthers aren't going to be pushed around.
Taking exception to a hit on rookie Owen Tippett, Weegar go into it with Lightning forward Alex Killorn late in the opening period tonight. Ryan Lomberg also got involved in the action at one point, grappling with an opposing player while the refs worked to separate Weegar and Killorn.
After both Weegar and Killorn were assessed penalties, the sparring turned verbal in the box.

"When we play a team 2-3 times in a row, things can get out of hand a little bit," Weegar said of physicality on the ice throughout tonight's matchup. "But it's good that we're sticking up for our teammates and showing a lot of character. Standing up for one another is great. Love to see it."
In the third period, the bad blood continued to boil over. After Radko Gudas dropped the gloves with Blake Coleman at 1:33, Patric Hornqvist and Yanni Gourde scrapped at 12:01 and each got two minutes for rouging. With 4:50 left in regulation, Keith Yandle and Gemel Smith got chippy.
"It's a physical game," Weegar said. "I hope we're physical on them next game. We've got to take away their speed, and physicality is one way to do it."

5. DUCLAIR RETURNS

After missing one game after being placed on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list prior to Thursday's 5-2 win over the Lightning, Anthony Duclair was right back in action tonight.
Deployed in his usual spot on the right side of top line, the 25-year-old winger fired off three shots on goal 14:56 of ice time. Taking a look at the possession numbers, the Panthers also owned 55.6% of the shot attempts during the 9:51 that he was on the ice at 5-on-5 play.
"We missed him last game," said Barkov, who centers Duclair. "It was good to see him back. He's a huge part of our offense and our game. He's a great guy to have on the team. I thought he played really good today and created a lot of chances. We just couldn't score today."

BONUS: MSD STRONG FOREVER

With the three-year anniversary of the tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland coming up on Sunday, the Panthers asked fans to hold up their phones and light up the arena to honor the 17 victims during a moving moment of remembrance before tonight's puck drop.
They are forever in our hearts.