Florida couldn't build on a strong start against the Ducks, blowing a pair of two-goal leads

When one streak ends, another begins.

Is that how the saying goes?

The Florida Panthers sure hope not.

After reeling off nine consecutive victories over the past several weeks, Florida has now gone winless in two straight following Monday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

Unlike Saturday’s loss to New Jersey in which the Panthers were fine with the way they played, Monday the Cats were taken out of their usual game and instead saw things open up, which was exactly what Anaheim was hoping.

Let’s get to the takeaways.

Unable to build on strong start

Monday’s game started out well enough for Florida.

They jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a power play goal by Sam Bennett and a shorthanded goal from Sam Reinhart, and while a late period flub at the blue line by Oliver Ekman-Larsson would lead to a breakaway goal by Alex Killorn with under four seconds on the clock.

Even after Florida regained its two-goal lead with a pair of quickies midway through the second, it didn’t feel like the usual Panthers, tight checking, opportunity limiting type of game.

Anaheim didn’t get a ton of opportunities, but they sure got some good ones, and they made the most of them.

“We had a good first period and then I thought we were a little arrogant with the puck in the second, we got started to get beat one-on-one,” Maurice said. “If you get beat one-on-one that’s a tell for something else that's going on in your game. We were unhappy with the result, I don't think we liked the way we played, but we’re probably going to leave this one right here.”

Costly mistakes

No team will go through an entire game without making mistakes.

They are inevitable.

You don’t always notice or remember the mistakes, unless they become costly.

The normally careful and surehanded Panthers were a little loosey-goosey with the puck at times, and the Ducks made them pay.

It’s one thing to get away from a responsible game, but it’s another to become sloppy and careless with the puck.

“We had some egregious errors that were in the back of the net,” Maurice said. “Through two periods, that was all; there weren't a lot of flurries. But when you get a one-goal game, the other team has got 20 minutes and all they’ve got to do is play hard, right?. So they did.”

Second line is rolling

One positive that continues to bear fruit, game after game, is the play of Florida’s second line.

The unit centered by Bennett and featuring Carter Verhaeghe and Matthew Tkachuk as the wingers has been steamrolling the competition of late.

The trio combined for three goals and two assists on Monday while putting up their usual, extremely solid Florida-leaning possession metrics.

Tkachuk has 18 points over a nine-game streak, Verhaeghe’s logged 15 points in his past nine outings and Bennett has seven points over his past eight games.

“They’re going,” Maurice said. “They had a stretch hockey at the start of the year where they weren't really in sync, or healthy is probably the more accurate way to describe it, and now they are. They were going right from the start.”

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