Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad speaks after Florida's 1-0 loss to Carolina on Feb. 22. On Tuesday the Florida Panthers hosted the Ottawa Senators and did not play very well, but still managed to come away with a win. Thursday night in Raleigh, the Panthers played a much better game and looked more like their usual, high-octane, physical selves. Alas, they left PNC Arena with nothing but some bruises and motivation after falling 1-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes. Don’t think they were hanging their heads after the loss, though. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] Florida will take playing like that every single night. Here are the takeaways. A solid road game Sure, Florida came one victory shy of tying the NHL record for consecutive wins on the road, and it happened on a night where they put up 44 shots in a tough building to play in, but they still have to be pleased with the overall effort on Thursday. Their hear coach sure seemed to be after the game. Perhaps it had something to do with Florida losing not one, but two key players and still somehow not appearing to skip a beat. “I liked our game, I liked it an awful lot,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “It's one thing to go into a game missing a couple guys, it’s completely another thing to lose them in the game, right? You don't have bodies to fill. But we put up 44 (shots) on him, both goaltenders were good. Yeah, it was a good road game for us.” Florida’s flexible roster The Panthers had to play more than two-thirds of Thursday’s game without Matthew Tkachuk and Gus Forsling. Both suffered apparent injuries during the first period and never returned. As Maurice explained after the game, having to manage a roster suddenly down a pair of main contributors at both even strength and on special teams allows you the ability to try some things and discover what may or may not work in a pinch. “You know what, I can move some people around here,” Maurice said. “Lundell can go from center to wing real quick, I moved Verhaeghe around a little, just a whole bunch of different guys…what you learn is what you can pull because that's going to happen again. You get into these games, you get in the playoffs, you lose a guy, you have to make adjustments. You're trying to learn as much as you can about your team. I liked our bench. I liked the way we handled it.” A night for the goalies to shine On a night the Panthers expected goals were 4.14 and Carolina’s was 2.27, according to Natural Stat Trick, Sergei Bobrovsky and Pyotr Kochetkov repeatedly shut the door and kept goose eggs on the scoreboard for almost the entire sixty minutes. On one hand, you had Kochetkov standing on his head, making 44 saves and stopping all 13 of Florida’s high danger shots. There’s no denying he stole the game for Carolina. But on the other hand, there was Bobrovsky, steady as ever, keeping the home team from pulling ahead in a game where the momentum would be so key for his shorthanded team to maintain as much as possible. “Yeah, he had some big saves,” Maurice said of Bobrovsky. “He made three probably that you don't expect your goalie to make. He always kind of rises to the occasion. You can tell that after you lose those two guys, everybody on the bench is kind of grinding a little harder. He's a good pro so he knew we needed some help back there, you get to five (defensemen) that early in the game and you lose an elite offensive player, but we still found a way. I never felt we were under siege, I didn't think we were in trouble necessarily any more than they were, both teams have good players…if you’re gonna lose a game, it should look just like that.” LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Hurricanes snap Panthers road win streak with late goal in Raleigh [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/hurricanes-snap-panthers-road-win-streak-with-late-goal-in-raleigh] Matthew Tkachuk, Gus Forsling leave Panthers game in Carolina [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/matthew-tkachuk-gus-forsling-leave-panthers-game-in-carolina] Five Favorites: Aaron Ekblad literally likes to fly away during his free time [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/five-favorites-aaron-ekblad-literally-likes-to-fly-away-during-his-free-time] Panthers travel to Carolina for matchup of Eastern Conference contenders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-travel-to-carolina-for-matchup-of-eastern-conference-contenders] Experts weigh in on Noah Hanifin to Florida Panthers rumor [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/experts-weigh-in-on-noah-hanifin-to-florida-panthers-rumor] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
