5 Takeaways: Panthers Look Ahead to Preseason Finale

ORLANDO - After two games, the Sunshine State series is all square.
In the second of three games they'll play this week, the Tampa Bay Lightning topped the Florida Panthers 6-2 on Thursday night at Amway Center -- the first neutral site games between the two clubs in Orlando since the 1995-96 season.

"There were some bounces and stuff that didn't go our way, and a couple breakdowns that hurt us," forward Frank Vatrano said. "It's preseason, but we've got to stick to our game plan. We've got 60 minutes. That's what the preseason is for, to kind of get those ones out. We have the last one coming up here, so we've got to make sure we're ready to go."
The mini-series began on Tuesday in Tampa, where the Panthers scored three goals in the third period to come from behind and win 3-2. This time, however, there would be no late-game heroics, as the Lightning put the game out of reach with three goals of their own in the third.
The Panthers and Lightning will now close out the preseason on Saturday in Sunrise.
"We played better than the scoreboard," coach Bob Boughner said. "I liked our first two periods way better than I did in Tampa Bay. We had a good start to our third period. We just didn't bury our chances. They got a couple bounces. It was terrible ice.
"You could see that for both teams. The puck was all over the place, and we over skated a few. We didn't get some out on the boards and we lost some battles there. But we got a lot accomplished tonight for what we wanted to see from some of our young guys."
Here are five takeaways from Thursday's loss in Orlando…

1. LEAVE IT TO LAMMIKKO

Juho Lammikko's strong training camp continues.
Lammikko, a third-round pick of the Panthers in 2014, scored his first goal of the preseason on Thursday night, cashing in a rebound after a long shot from Aaron Ekblad to put get Florida on the board and make it a 1-1 game at 6:27 of the first period.
"Lammy's been great all camp," Boughner said. "He's a guy that can play center, win draws, kill penalties. He's a real detailed guy. He's in the right spot all the time."

Entering his third pro season, Lammikko has been showing steady signs of improvement while developing with Florida's AHL affiliate in Springfield. In 59 games with the Thunderbirds during the 2017-18 campaign, he set new career highs in goals (8), assists (20) and points (29). At 22, he also contributed on the penalty kill, ranking second on the team in shorthanded goals (2).
"I'm happy with what I see from him," Boughner said.
At 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds, Lammikko could add a big body to Florida's bottom-six this season.

2. LUONGO NOT FEELING IT

After looking sharp in his preseason debut last week in Montreal, Roberto Luongo struggled in his first full exhibition game, allowing six goals on 32 shots to pick up his first loss on Thursday.
"I didn't feel like I played the way I should play," Luongo said. "It's a disappointing performance for me. I've just got to get back to work. I've got to make sure I work hard to be where I need to be… at the end of the day, there's no excuse. I didn't play the way I should be playing. I've got to work on some things. I wasn't seeing the puck well; I wasn't reading the play well. I can't have that happen."
Entering his 19th NHL season, Luongo showed last season that he can still perform at a very high level when healthy. In 33 starts, he owned an 18-11-2 record with three shutouts, a 2.47 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage - the fourth-best percentage in the league.
Boughner said he plans to start Luongo again in Saturday's preseason finale.
"I've got no doubt Lu will be ready when the real deal hits," Boughner said.

3. MACDONALD MAKING THE MOST OF IT

It's been a pretty eventful few years for Jacob MacDonald.
In returning to Orlando, the 25-year-old defenseman was reminded of the last time he visited the arena all the way back in February of 2016, when he was just getting his feet wet in professional hockey with the ECHL's Elmira Jackals. Looking back, that year now feels like a turning point.
After finishing that season with the Jackals, MacDonald spent one year with the Toledo Walleye before joining the New Jersey Devils organization, where he went on to lead all AHL blueliners in goals (20) and points (55) in 75 games with AHL Binghamton in 2017-18.
Now, MacDonald is fighting to make his NHL debut with the Panthers.
"I'm just trying to focus on what I'm doing and not worrying about who's here and who's not," said MacDonald, who finished with two shots against Tampa. "Hopefully I can stay here as long as I can. The fact that I'm still here means that I'm here for a reason."
After Thursday's loss, Boughner heaped praised on MacDonald's play.
"He was our best defenseman tonight," he said. "He moved pucks; he was aggressive. I really like what I see from him. We'll see what happens here and who's healthy after tonight. I wouldn't mind seeing him again. We'll see. No promises, obviously."

4. VATRANO SCORES

Vatrano came out firing in the final 20 minutes.
With the Panthers trailing 3-1 early in the third period, the 24-year-old winger gave his team some hope with plenty of time left to play, banging home a rebound off a shot from Henrik Borgstrom on the power play to cut Tampa's lead to 3-2 with 17:51 left in regulation.
The goal was Vatrano's first point of the preseason.
"It's obviously nice," Vatrano said. "I've bounced around a bit, playing with different guys. Going on the power play a little bit, too. You just kind of create chemistry with some of those guys. For me, being in that position on the power play, I just know I've got to get to the net."

Acquired from Boston for a third-round pick on Feb. 22, Vatrano appeared in 16 games with the Panthers last season, recording five goals and three assists, including a two-point performance against his former team to help lead Florida to a 4-2 win the regular-season finale. With four NHL seasons under his belt, Vatrano has proven himself to be a very versatile asset.
"I'm used to it, playing lots of different roles throughout my career," Vatrano said. "I've played top-six, bottom-six. Obviously, when you play in the bottom-six you've got to play a bit harder to get to those dirty areas and make sure that you're being good at both ends of the ice."

5. HALEY HURT?

Micheal Haley exited during the third period of Thursday night's loss and did not return after crashing into the boards and suffering what appeared to be a potential lower-body injury.
As one of the NHL's premier enforcers, the 32-year-old was one of just three players in the entire league to hit double-digit fighting majors last season, leading the league with a career-high 22 - nine more than the next highest player and the most in the NHL since 2010-11.
According to HockeyFights.com voters, Haley only lost four of those 22 fights.
After the game, Boughner said he'd know more about Haley's status in the coming days.

BONUS: SEE YOU SOON

Two down, one to go.
The three-game, three-location series between the Panthers and Lightning will finally come to an end on Saturday, when the two clubs meet at BB&T Center for a rubber match before taking a week off and then reconvening in Tampa for the regular-season opener on Oct. 6.
"We're probably going to hate each other, come the end of this preseason," Vatrano said. "It's good to play a team that you're going to see a lot in your conference. They're a team that's one of the best in the league. For us, we know that we can contend with them. Now, we play them here at home. It's going to be good. Everyone's excited."