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Thirty-one seconds separate Panthers from critical point

Florida running out of time for late losses

Ethan J. Skolnick

Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images

There isn't much time for the Florida Panthers to get back in the playoffs, so they can't take any time for granted.

The game started well for Florida; a 2-0 lead.

And even after the New York Islanders took a 4-3 lead in the third period, it appeared Florida would make the most of the sort-of matinee. With Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky pulled for an extra skater, Sam Reinhart tied the game at four with 1:58 remaining.

But the Aaron Ekblad got beaten in the neutral zone by Anders Lee, who entered the zone and curled back into the crease before Gustav Forsling could recover and poke it away. Lee went backhand to forehand to beat Bobrovsky -- who had come out to cut off the angle -- for his second goal of the contest, with just 31 seconds remaining.

Sam Bennett scored twice in the loss, which was extremely damaging for Florida's positioning. The Panthers are now 1-2 since the Olympic break, even while being relatively healthy, and are now eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the last wild card spot -- with four other teams to jump. Bobrovsky, who continues to be up and down, had just 21 saves.

The Panthers face the Devils in New Jersey on Tuesday, and then travel to Columbus and Detroit to complete their four-game trip.

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Ethan J. Skolnick
ETHAN J. SKOLNICK

Ethan is the CEO of Five Reasons Sports Network, based in South Florida and manages the OnSI sites for the Florida Panthers, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies and Milwaukee Bucks. Previously, he wrote for all the major newspapers in South Florida as well as Bleacher Report, and was an afternoon drive radio host. He has a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University and an M.S. from Columbia University.

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