Three takeaways from Panthers first regular season loss, 4-1, to Minnesota

The Florida Panthers suffered their first regular season loss of the year, 4-1, but the good news is that they never let up, totaling 30 shots on goal to Minnesota's 29. The bad news...

The Panthers still can't find the net with a man advantage

Florida (2-1-2) went 0-for-5 on the power play on Saturday, and for the season hold a meager mark of 1-for-28.

They did amass 11 shots on goal in the five power plays, and several times came close to scoring. In the final two minutes, the Panthers pulled goalie Jacob Markstrom for the extra man, and Sam Reinhart wristed a shot past a defender and off the post.

After the game, coach Paul Maurice attributed much of the early season lag on the power play to the team's setup in the opponents' zone.

"Our entries have been a problem for us in the first part, for sure," Maurice said. "But it wasn't tonight. I though we did a pretty good job with that. We had 11 shots...as frustrating as it looked tonight, it was better than it had been on the road."

Reinhart, the Panthers’ leading scorer last season, and newcomer Brady Tkachuk, a three-time All-Star, have not registered a single point.

The absence of captain Aleksander Barkov and star forward Brad Marchand, out 6-8 weeks and 6 weeks, respectively, certainly have affected the Panthers' power play. But not in the way you might think.

Maurice singled out the issue of weak entries, and although Barkov and Marchand are top goal scorers, they are also two of the best pure skaters in the NHL. That finesse on the ice is a big miss in terms of moving the puck toward the blue line and setting up what has the potential to be one of the top scoring power plays in the league. Luckily for the Panthers, at the other end of the ice....

Markstrom continues to look sharp despite allowing three goals

The box score from Saturday's 4-1 loss doesn't reveal the three-part save Jacob Markstrom made on Minnesota during a Wild power play in the third period to keep the Panthers in the game.

The box score also doesn't record his nifty gloves saves or the Sergei-Brobovsky-like pad save he also made in the third period.

Markstrom made 25 saves out of 29 shots on goal, allowing a hat trick to Panthers killer Kirill Kaprizov in the process. Markstrom has now allowed seven goals in four games this season. The Panthers will take that less than two-goals-per-game average any day.

Speaking of Bobrovsky, he came into Saturday's games having allowed nine goals in his first three contests with his new team (three goals per game).

Another glaring contrast to Bobrovsky is Markstrom's willingness to come out of the net to get a cleared puck. While that's created some suspense (there were several close calls against Minnesota where Markstrom barely got back in the net in time to make a stop), it also aids the Florida defense. Time will tell whether this added mobility will help or hurt the Panthers. But one huge addition to the Panthers....

New dad Ekblad becomes Panthers leader in games played, surpassing Barkov

Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad played his 807th game for Florida on Saturday, making him the franchise leader in games played.

Ekblad had three shots on goal, and was one of many Panthers who was robbed by the deft goaltending of the Wild's Jesper Wallstedt.

It's been quite a week for Ekblad and his wife, Dayna, who welcomed their first child, a baby boy, on Monday, Oct. 5. Ekblad missed games against Anaheim and Los Angeles to return to South Florida for the birth, but took the ice on Saturday.

In other Panther player news, Eetu Luostarinen, who left Saturday's game after being struck by a puck, is day-to-day and scheduled for evaluation on Sunday ahead of Florida's matchup at the Buffalo Sabres on Monday (1 p.m. start).

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