5 Takeaways: Panthers Comeback Falls Short in Nashville

The Florida Panthers believe they played well enough to win, but simply couldn't overcome a controversial second period in a 4-3 loss to the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night.

After entering the first intermission with a 2-1 lead on a pair of goals from Vincent Trocheck and Derek MacKenzie, a controversial goal by Nick Bonino gave way to a three-goal outburst for Nashville in the second period.
P.K. Subban scored the game-winning goal for the Predators, beating goaltender Harri Sateri - who was making his first NHL start - with a massive slap shot from the right circle to put Nashville up 4-2 at 16:29 of the second frame.
Keith Yandle scored late in the third period to bring the Panthers within one, but Florida's comeback fell short in the Music City, as Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped 37 of 40 shots to secure the victory. "Any time you give up three in a period and get yourself down on the road, it's tough," Yandle said. "We did a lot of good things. It was, just kind of, lost it there for however many minutes. It was a gutty effort out of our group. I thought we played hard… I thought we did a lot more positive than negative."
Here are five takeaways from Saturday's loss in Nashville …

1. COMING OUT STRONG

After falling behind 1-0 just 36 seconds after the puck had dropped, the Panthers proceeded to dominate the next 19:24 of the first period against the Predators on Saturday night. Florida registered 18 shots on goal through the first 20 minutes of play, carrying a 2-1 lead into the first intermission on a pair of goals from Vincent Trocheck and Derek MacKenzie. At 5-on-5, the Panthers had 12 scoring chances to Nashville's 9. "Obviously, being down 1-0 two minutes into a game on the road in a back-to-back wasn't the start we were looking for, but I liked our compete and our battle all night," Panthers coach Bob Boughner said. "I thought that we were the better team for a lot of the game." The Panthers fall to 6-3-0 when leading after the first period this season.

2. SATERI GETS THE START

After rolling with James Reimer for 17 consecutive games, the Panthers finally gave the nod in net to backup Harri Sateri on Saturday night. In the first start of his NHL career, the 28-year-old Finn stopped 25 of 29 shots, including a handful of highlight-reel saves. "He gave us a chance to win tonight," Boughner said. Prior to the game, Sateri's only NHL experience came in relief of Reimer on Jan. 2, when he allowed one goal on 14 shots against in Minnesota. "It was awesome to play an NHL game," Satteri said. "Then, against Rinne, obviously he's one of the best goalies in Finland, so it felt awesome." With starting goaltender Roberto Luongo not expected to return to the lineup until early February, it's possible that Satteri did enough to earn another start down the road.

3. TROCHECK'S GOT THE POWER

After firing 15 shots on goal with nothing to show for it, Vincent Trocheck finally snuck one past Pekka Rinne on Florida's 16th shot of the night. With the Panthers on the power play, Trocheck crashed the net and poked in a rebound to make it a 1-1 game at 11:16 of the first period. The goal was Trocheck's team-leading 18th of the season and seventh with the man advantage - also a team-best. Entering the night with the league's 25th-ranked power play (15.8 percent), the Panthers have now scored three power-play goals in their last five games. "Their d-man made a step at the blue line and we were able to get an odd-man rush out of it," Trocheck said of the goal. "[Evgenii Dadonov] took it to the net, it was laying there, and I was able to pick up the rebound."

4. YANDLE'S TRICKERY

As the elder statesman of Florida's defense, it makes sense that Keith Yandle would have a few tricks up his sleeve. On Friday night, he showed off a pretty good one. After receiving the puck just beyond center ice, Yandle acted as if he was going to send the puck up along the board to get a change, but instead sent the puck towards Nashville's net, catching Rinne off-guard for the goal to bring the Panthers within one and make it a 4-3 at 8:34 of the third period. The goal was Yandle's fourth of the season. "Our goalie coach kind of gave us the heads up to try it," Yandle said. "I think I've got [Rinne] once on it before. I think the first one hit the glass on him, back in the day. It's just a lucky goal, but I'll take it." The 31-year-old also leads all Panthers defensemen in points (25) and assists (21) this season.

5. THE TURNING POINT

This was the goal that turned the tide on Friday night - or was it? With a lot of traffic in front of the net, Nick Bonino poked a loose puck that slowly made its way across the crease before Panthers defenseman Mike Matheson slid into the net and appeared to keep it out. The official closest to the play initially ruled it a no-goal, but after a brief meeting the call was changed to a goal. Upon further video review, the NHL's situation room supported the call, ignoring the fact that the initial ruling on the ice was no-goal. Immediately after the ruling, Boughner challenged the goal, citing goaltender interference, but none was found. This controversial play clearly swung the momentum in Nashville's favor, as the Predators scored two more goals on their next five shots to take a 4-2 lead heading into the second intermission. "A controversial goal in my mind," Boughner said. "It was just confusing what was going on because the ref waved it off at the net. The linesman apparently called it from the far blue line. I don't know how he sees it from there, because the guy on the top of the net did not see the puck go in."
Check out the goal HERE.