Florida outshot Vancouver 19-4 during the final 20 minutes of Saturday's game

For the first time since Opening Night, the Florida Panthers had an opportunity to move above .500 when they hosted the Vancouver Canucks on Saurday night.

Things didn’t work out in Florida’s favor as the Canucks controlled special teams and withstood a furious push by the Cats during the third period to come away with a 5-3 win.

It was another fast start for the Panthers, putting up seven shots on goal before the first TV timeout.

Vancouver would draw first blood though, cashing in on a Quinn Hughes power play goal, but Florida would answer in short order.

Twenty-two seconds later, Panthers Captain Sasha Barkov slipped past Canucks rearguard Tyler Myers at the Vancouver blue line before muscling past his partner, Ian Cole, and beating Casey DeSmith with a smooth backhand along the ice.

The visiting team controlled play for much of the middle frame, and just like during the first, scored on the power play while killing its only penalty.

Toss in an Elias Pettersson snipe over Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker for good measure, and in less than four minutes the game went from a tightly contested match to a 3-1 Vancouver lead after two.

Florida came out smoking hot to start the third, putting up nine shots on goal in just over six minutes. The ninth, a rebound putback by Sam Reinhart, cut the Canucks lead in half at the 6:10 mark.

Reinhart tied the game 5:59 to go, sliding a nice feed from below the goal line by Evan Rodrigues under DeSmith, but the Canucks, who were being outshot 17-2 in the third period at the time, got a lucky break when Andrei Kuzmenko was left alone in the slot. He held the puck for an eternity, allowing Steven Lorentz and Bobrovsky to twist themselves right out of position, and he shot the puck into a yawning cage.

An empty-net goal by J.T. Miller with 2:10 remaining would seal the deal on a very disappointing night for the Panthers.

Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s game:

Sam Reinhart has scored six goals in his past four games. He’s on pace to score 98 goals this season.

The puck movement on Florida’s top power play is getting quicker and crisper. Eventually they’ll start getting shots to the net much quicker.

Eventually is not now, though. While there may be positives to point out on both the power play and penalty kill, neither is pulling its weight currently. Florida is just 2-for-20 on the power play, good for 25th in the 32-team NHL, and 15-for-23 when down a man, a 65.2% success rate that is fourth-worst in the league. 

Great minutes from the fourth line again. Lorenz and Stenlund forecheck like nobody’s business, and we already know about Lomberg’s endless motor and propensity for throwing his body around.

The Panthers finished the game with 36 shots on 69 shot attempts. 

LATEST THN FLORIDA STORIES

Sam Bennett close to returning, possible he plays in next Panthers game

Panthers host Vancouver looking for third straight win

The Panthers unveiled a new, custom goal song. Here's what we know about it.

Florida Panthers benefiting from Eetu Luostarinen shifting back from wing to center

'He said he loves me': Sasha Barkov heard from Radko Gudas after sad solo high five