Recap: Panthers' preseason woes continue in shutout loss to Lightning

The games don't count yet, but the Florida Panthers haven't had much success in the offensive zone or in the standings so far. The Cats were blanked 3-0 by the Tampa Bay Lightning in their final exhibition game at the BB&T Center. The two teams will close out the preseason slate Saturday night in Tampa.

The Panthers have only mustered up nine goals in compiling a 0-3-2 preseason record.

Ondrej Palat scored the eventual game-winner in the first period and Nikita Kucherov bagged two third period goals, the second was an empty-netter, to complete the scoring. Rookie Vladislav Namestnikov picked up assists on both Kucherov goals.

Veteran Evgeni Nabokov made 21 saves to post the shutout, while Roberto Luongo went the distance for the Panthers and stopped 30 of 32 shots in a solid performance.

Jonathan Huberdeau and Shawn Thornton led the Cats with three shots apiece. Rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad made his home debut and logged 24:08 of ice time, finishing the game with one shot on goal and a -1 rating.