5 TAKEAWAYS: 'Lot of hockey left' as Panthers fall to Capitals in Game 3

WASHINGTON, D.C. -The Panthers know they're not playing like themselves right now.
Unable to execute with the same confident precision that helped them capture the Presidents' Trophy during the regular season, the Panthers endured a 6-1 loss to the Capitals at Capital One Arena on Saturday to fall behind 2-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference First Round.

"We have to find a way, again, to fight through it," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said. "So far this series we have proven at different stretches but not enough right now. We are behind 2-1 [in the series], but there is a lot of hockey left. We just have to play a little better."
Helping the Panthers break the ice for the second straight game, Jonathan Huberdeau opened the scoring this afternoon when he collected a pass from Anthony Duclair, flew up the left side of the ice and wired a laser straight past Ilya Samsonov to make it 1-0 at 2:45 of the first period.
Earning a power play late in opening period, the Capitals tied the game when T.J. Oshie deflected a point shot from Alex Ovechkin past Sergei Bobrosky to make it 1-1 at 19:34.
Not long before that goal, Bobrovsky, who finished with 25 saves, made one of the better stops of the playoffs thus far when he sprawled out to rob Nicklas Backstrom with back-to-back saves.

"Penalties, we've got to clean up," Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said. "They've got one of the best power plays in the league and we've got to watch that. We've got to be better."
Shortly after a big save from Samsonov in the second period, the Capitals took the lead when Marcus Johansson backhanded a loose puck into the top of the cage to make it 2-1 at 9:51.
Netting another late-period goal, the Capitals forced a turnover in the offensive zone before Trevor van Riemsdyk threaded a wrist shot into the net through traffic to make it 3-1 at 18:49.
Left alone in his office on the power play, Alex Ovechkin extend Washington's lead further in the third period when he blasted home a one-timer from the left circle to make it 4-1 at 10:25. After the Panthers pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker, John Carlson made it 5-1 at 15:40.
With 42 seconds left in regulation, Garnet Hathaway added one more goal to make it 6-1.
"Channel the anger into competing on pucks," said Brunette, hoping his players will turning their emotions into results. "So far the story written is they've out-competed, out-willed us on pretty much every puck battle in every area. It's something we're going to have to figure out here."
Looking to even up the series, the Cats will clash with the Caps again in Game 4 on Monday.
"Everybody has to give more," Huberdeau said. "That's what we said in the room. Down 2-1 on the road, it's going to be important that we get that win. I think we've just got to be way better. We're a way better team and we're going to come out in Game 4 and be a better team."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's loss…

1. HUBY SCORES

It didn't lead to a win, but the Panthers got off to a good start.
Taking an early lead in enemy territory, Huberdeau sniped a shot past Samsonov from near the top of the circle to make it 1-0 less than three minutes after the puck dropped in the first period. With the goal, he tied Ray Sheppard for most playoff points in franchise history (18).

"We had a good start, but we just didn't keep it," Huberdeau.
Leading the Panthers and finishing tied for second in the NHL with a franchise-record 115 points (30 goals, 85 assists), Huberdeau has posted a goal and an assist through the first three games of the playoffs, while also accumulating the second-most shots on goal on the Panthers with 10.

2. SAMSONOV'S SAVES

After strong relief appearance in Game 2, Samsonov picked up right where he left off.
Making 17 saves in the third period after coming into the game in relief of Vitek Vanecek on Thursday, Samsonov stopped 29 of 30 shots to backstop the Capitals to the win in Game 3.
Of his saves, nine were considered high-danger, including a huge stop on Aleksander Barkov's shot from right on the doorstep to keep the Panthers from going ahead 2-1 in the second period.
"I thought he played a good third period last game, and he carried it over to [today]," Brunette said. "I don't know if we got in front of him enough and got inside enough. Credit to them again, but, again, not willing ourselves to get inside. I don't even know if there were any rebounds we got to. That's not a trait. We score a lot of goals in that area, but we're just not getting in there."

3. NEED MORE POWER

The Panthers know they need to operate better on the man advantage.
Still searching for their first power-play goal of the playoffs, the Panthers went 0-for-3 with the extra attacker in Game 3 while mustering just four shots on goal with those three opportunities.
After finishing with the fourth-ranked power play in the NHL during the regular season with a 24.4% success rate, Florida is currently sitting at 0-for-9 in the early goings of the postseason.
"We've got to start scoring some goals," Huberdeau said. "We're going to make some adjustments and be talking about it because 0-for-9 is unacceptable. In the playoffs, you need these goals. It's important. We had some chances today, and we didn't capitalize."

4. OVIE STRIKES

Held without a goal in Games 1 and 2, Ovechkin finally broke through this afternoon.
Left alone around the top of the left circle after the Capitals won a battle along the boards, Ovechkin buried his patented one-timer on the power play to make it 4-1 in the third period.
"A little bit of a broken play," Brunette said. "I think so far this series we've done a pretty good job of shading that way not giving him too many looks. It was kind of a broken play. We were looking to get the puck and kind of fell asleep there a bit. That's going to happen. It was a 50-50 puck, which we lost again. When they find him, he's not going to miss from there very often."
First on the Capitals in playoff scoring, Ovechkin has tallied four points (one goal, four assists).

5. PLAY THE HITS

Physicality continues to be a focal point of this series.
With bodies being thrown all over the ice, the Cats led 49-44 in hits in Game 3, with MacKenzie Weegar (9), Mason Marchment (7) and Patric Hornqvist (6) dealing the most damage out there.
"It's playoff hockey, it's a physical game," Montour said. "We've got to fight for every inch."
At the time of this writing, the Capitals (147) and Panthers (144) have combined for 291 hits, which is the highest total between two teams in any of the playoff series currently underway.
"They're a heavy team and they're going to play in your face and not give you space," Brunette said of Washington. "They defend well and they play through the neutral zone. We have to find a way to will ourselves a little more than we have."