The Blackhawks lost to the Florida Panthers 6-3 on Monday at BB&T Center.
Here are 10 observations from the loss:
1. The Blackhawks scored the first goal and lost in regulation for the second time in as many games. The Panthers have 12 wins when they give up the first goal; no other team has more than nine.
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2. The Blackhawks rank No. 3 in power-play percentage but they were totally out of sync in this game. They had zero shots on goal on their three opportunities and allowed a shorthanded goal on the fourth, which turned out to be the game-winner.
3. Kevin Lankinen made the save of the night in the NHL after robbing Aaron Ekblad with his glove:
4. Going into Monday, the Blackhawks had killed off seven straight penalties over their last two games after going 14-for-27 on the kill in their previous nine. They took a step back in that department against the Panthers, who scored on their first two power-play opportunities and nearly did on their third but Lankinen's glove save kept them from doing so.
5. The Blackhawks won only 25 of 65 faceoffs after winning 24 of 71 draws on Saturday. They lost a combined 87 of 136 faceoffs in the two-game set against the Panthers for a win percentage of 36.0.
NHL
6. The Blackhawks held the Panthers to only six high-danger chances at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. But they generated only five of their own and couldn't capitalize on their power-play chances.
7. The Blackhawks made several line changes, which most notably included David Kampf being promoted to first-line center between Alex DeBrincat and Patrick Kane. The move was made presumably for faceoff reasons, but it paid off quickly after Kampf pounced on an offensive zone giveaway in the first period and fed Kane, who slipped a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky.
8. With the tally, Kane snapped his season-long goal drought at six games and surpassed Joe Mullen for No. 5 on the all-time points list among American-born players. Kane is now at 1,064 and needs one more point to tie Keith Tkachuk for fourth.
9. On Saturday, the Panthers' top line of Aleksander Barkov, Anthony Duclair and Carter Verhaeghe was on the ice for 17 shot attempts for and two against, 11 scoring chances for and one against, eight high-danger chances for and zero against, and three goals for and zero against at 5-on-5. That trio was held to only three shot attempts for and three against.
10. After going 17 straight games without a goal to open his NHL career, Brandon Hagel has scored a goal in back-to-back games and extended his point streak to three games. He also drew his eighth penalty of the season; only Connor Murphy (nine) has drawn more for the Blackhawks this season.
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