Fresh off the heels of a shootout victory in Motor City, the Canucks took their talents to South Beach to take on the Florida Panthers.

Sitting comfortably among the leagues worst – with a consistently terrible winning percentage – the Canucks could ill afford to leave the Sunshine State empty handed. Playing without their captain, presumptive second line centre and shutdown defender, the odds were stacked mightily against them.

Nearing the end of their staggering road trip, Vancouver traded blows early and often with the Panthers en route to a shootout performance, both in the literal and figurative sense. By the end of the first, these teams combined for four goals and looked to be on their way to double digits and then some.

This trend continued well into the third, with the teams knotted at four going into 3-on-3 overtime – usually an ill omen for the not-so fleet of foot Canucks. The Canucks survived this frame, going into the shootout with a 4-4 tie and business to settle. Vancouver got off to a hot start, with Jared McCann tripping and putting the puck past an outstretched Roberto Luongo for an early lead in the skills competition.

Unfortunately, the Canucks went down another man on the following shooter. Ryan Miller appeared to be in obvious discomfort, and had to leave the game with what was later revealed to be cramps. The Panthers scored too, adding insult to injury. A cold Jacob Markstrom was forced to come in relief, with two Panthers shooters on the docket. He stopped the first, but was no match for the filthy skate to backhand move by Alexander Barkov for the next shooter. The final score, 5-4 Florida Panthers.