5 Takeaways: Panthers Fall to Hurricanes Despite 2 Goals from Barkov

SUNRISE, Fla. -Aleksander Barkov couldn't ignore a strong sense of déjà vu tonight.
Sitting down at the post-game podium after a 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes at BB&T Center on Thursday, the Panthers captain professed he could've predicted all of the questions that were being asked by reporters. After all, he'd been part of this exact game before against Carolina.
And like most of the six losses in their season series, this one came down to the wire.

"Coming here, I thought probably the same questions as the other games," Barkov said. "The same type of game in almost all of them, the same type of finish. They end the same way. A tie game and then [the Hurricanes] end up winning. They just find a way to win those games."
Despite the end result, the Cats got the start they wanted tonight against the Canes.
Fired up after watching Ryan Lomberg drop the gloves with Cedric Paquette, the Panthers then turned that momentum into a 1-0 lead when Barkov took a tape-to-tape pass from Patric Hornqvist and floated a shot over Alex Nedeljkovic and into the net at 6:22 of the first period.
Barkov's goal came just 1:05 after Lomberg's decisive victory in the melee.
"These games are definitely going to be tight," said Lomberg, who has brought fans to their feet with brawls in each of the last two games. "They're a good team. They play hard and play as a unit out there. We're definitely looking forward to next game and getting some redemption."
In the second period, the Hurricanes pulled even with the Panthers just 14 seconds after the puck dropped when Jordan Martinook collected a feed from Jordan Staal, who threated a pass through the crease, and beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a shot from the slot to make it a 1-1 game.
On the power play just past the midway point of the middle frame, Nino Niederreiter doubled Carolina's lead to 2-1 when he put home a rebound through some very heavy traffic at 11:09.
Despite being on the penalty kill, the Hurricanes continued to rack up the goals in the second period when, on a 2-on-0 rush up the ice, Sebastian Aho took a pass from Martin Necas and sent a shot into the twine for a shorthanded score that put the Panthers in a 3-1 hole at 18:08.
"Shorthanded goals are generally deflating," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "They can change the complexion of a game. You can have bad power plays and lose momentum, but when you give up a shorty it's the complete package. I thought we came back and had a good start to the third period."
Presented with a golden opportunity on a 5-on-3 power play in the final stanza, the Panthers got yet another big goal from their captain when Barkov beat Nedeljkovic with a laser of a wrist shot from the high slot to cut Carolina's lead down to just one goal with 7:58 remaining in regulation.
Coming oh-so-close to tying the game soon after, Jonathan Huberdeau had what appeared to be a surefire goal from the doorstep taken away by a sensational glove save from Nedeljkovic.
"You dream about that opportunity we had to tie it, and it didn't happen," Quenneville said.
Earning another power play with less than two minutes left on the clock, the Panthers pulled their goaltender in favor of the extra attack. Unfortunately, even facing a 6-on-4 advantage, the Hurricanes held down the fort until Aho cashed in on the empty net to make it 4-2 at 19:44.
With the finale of their season series coming up on Saturday, the Panthers (30-13-5) now trail the Hurricanes (31-10-5) by two points in the heated race for first place in the Central Division.
"We've just got to be ready next game," Barkov said. "We're in a good spot in the standings, but we know Carolina has been beating us this season. We've just got to find a way to win these games and play the right way for a full 60 minutes."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's loss in Sunrise…

1. BARKOV BREAKS THE ICE

The milestones keep piling up for Barkov.
Breaking the ice against the Hurricanes tonight, the Panthers captain collected a pass from Hornqvist and beat Nedeljkovic, who was caught in an awkward position after trying to chase a rebound, with a wrist shot from the right circle to make it a 1-0 game at 6:22 of the first period.
With the score, Barkov secured his franchise-record sixth 20-goal season of his career.

"We've just got to battle," Barkov said when asked about facing the Hurricanes. "We've just got to work for the full 60 minutes -- no shifts off, nothing. Every shift, we've just got to work hard."
Of course, the team's superstar center wasn't done there.

2. BACK AT IT AGAIN

Carrying a hot stick into tonight's game, Barkov was back at it again in the third period.
Trailing 3-1 and in desperate need of a goal on the power play, the fantastic Finn received a pass from Keith Yandle, skated down into the high slot and rifled a shot past Nedeljkovic and into the net to cut Florida's deficit down to just a single goal with 7:58 remaining in regulation.

Florida's leader in goals with 21, Barkov has been terrorizing opposing goaltenders for more than a month. Over his last 17 games, the 25-year-old center has lit the lamp 13 times, with nine of those goals coming at 5-on-5. He's also buried three on the power play and one shorthanded.
By potting a pair tonight, Barkov now also has three multi-goal performances this season.

3. NEED MORE POWER

With play at 5-on-5 once again pretty tight, this game came down to special teams.
In addition to giving up a shorthanded goal, the Panthers went just 1-for-9 with the extra attacker against the Hurricanes, who own the NHL's fourth-ranked penalty kill at 84.1%.
"A tough night for our power play," Quenneville. "You've got to be better and more resilient than we were tonight to be effective. We've got a game on Saturday to correct it."
Although the end result wasn't there, the Panthers did have a lot of chances on the power play, especially in the third period. According to NaturalStatTrick.com, Florida fired 12 shots on goal and 22 shot attempts with the man advantage, with seven shots counting as scoring chances.
In the third period alone, the Panthers had five scoring chances on the power play.
"The third period we had good power plays," Barkov said. "We had chances and could've scored more. The first two periods, the power play wasn't that good. We didn't do the right things out there. … They have a good penalty kill, so you have to be ready all the time."
Overall, Florida has gone 3-for-31 with the extra attacker against Carolina this season.

4. SLUMP IN THE SECOND

The middle frame wasn't kind to the Panthers tonight.
Watching their 1-0 lead turn into a 3-1 disadvantage, the Cats surrendered a goal on the power play, penalty kill and at even strength to the Hurricanes over the course of the second stanza.
Looking at the numbers, quality over quantity was likely a key factor in Carolina's breakout.
Despite trailing 20-18 in total shot attempts in the second period, the Hurricanes owned an 8-1 advantage over the Panthers on attempts from high-danger areas, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

5. ONE MORE TO GO

The Panthers will have one more chance to solve the Hurricanes before the playoffs.
Wrapping up their season series, the Panthers will host the Hurricanes on Saturday at BB&T Center. After that, they'll hit the road for a four-game trip through Nashville and Chicago before returning home for the final three games of the regular season, including two with Tampa Bay.
Looking ahead, Quenneville wants to see a "complete game" in their last clash with Carolina.
"We always seem like we have our turn, and they seize the momentum with kind of a timely goal to deflate it," Quenneville said of the back-and-forth nature of the series. "And sometimes we don't recapture it like they do. It could be the differential in four or five of these outcomes."