Three takeaways: Trouble getting shots through, winning puck battles plague Panthers in loss to Tampa

The Florida Panthers dropped a frustrating battle to their biggest rivals on Saturday night in Sunrise.

Florida struggled with their offense in a physical matchup, falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1 at Amerant Bank Arena.

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It was the first time in several games that the Panthers looked a bit out of sorts when compared to how they have generally been able to perform against their opponents.

In this case, the defeat stings just a little bit more because, you know, itâ€s Tampa.

Here are Saturdayâ€s takeaways:

TROUBLE GETTING PUCKS ON NET

An area that weâ€ve seen the Panthers struggle from time to time is with getting shot attempts through to the net.

Some nights their opponents have been amazing at getting into the shooting lanes, other nights Florida just canâ€t seem to find the net with looks that get through.

Saturday felt like a steady mix.

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Between Tampa Bay blocking a couple dozen shots and Florida missing with several handfuls of others, it wasnâ€t nearly as difficult of a night for Andrei Vasilevsky as it could or should have been.

“They did a real good job blocking shots,†said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “I think we had 37 (shot attempts) that never got to the net. That’s a bit of a challenge.

FAILED TO WIN PUCK BATTLES

One of the ways Florida has become such a dominant force is in their physicality.

If youâ€re heading into the boards with a Panthers player in hopes of emerging with the puck, odds are the situation wonâ€t go well for you.

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Thatâ€s the norm, but that wasnâ€t the case on Saturday.

Credit to the Lightning, who know exactly what to expect out of their cross-state rival and were ready, willing and able to withstand what the Panthers threw at them.

“I didnâ€t like the number of pucks we came up with on contested pucks,†Maurice said. “That would be the place that we need to get better at.â€

STRONG OUTING FROM PK UNIT

One area that Florida was excellent all-around on Saturday was their penalty kill.

This is nothing new, as the Cats†PK has been humming along for the past several games.

Not since the first period in Los Angeles have the Panthers allowed a power play goal, a stretch that has now reached 13 consecutive penalty kills.

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“I liked our penalty kill, that was the highlight of the game. I thought we did a real good job with that,†Maurice said. “It’s no different than your power play; It’s all confidence based. We went through a run of having a tough stretch on our kill, and it’s been good for the last four or five games. Really aggressive, everybody moving together, getting sticks on pucks, winning face offs, some blocks, but some really good clears.â€

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Photo caption: Apr 28, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) controls the puck against Tampa Bay Lightning center Gage Goncalves (93) during the third period in game four of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena. (Rich Storry-Imagn Images)

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