SUNRISE, Fla. — The Florida Panthers left the ice to a chorus of boos at the end of the first period Thursday. It was one of those periods when nothing could go right. Sergei Bobrovsky gave up four goals on 11 shots and got benched at the first intermission. The Panthers’ power play reverted back to its worst instincts and put just two shots on goal in four minutes. Florida even faced the tall task of staging a comeback without Aleksander Barkov, who did not play due to an illness.
Even for the “Comeback Cats,” it was too much. Although the Panthers cut the Dallas Stars’ lead down to one goal in the third period, the Stars hung on to beat Florida, 6-4, in Sunrise.
A disastrous first period was too much for the Panthers to overcome.
