Panthers wait too late to start their comeback in a 5-3 loss to Lightning

Never give up on the Florida Panthers.

Rarely do they give up on themselves.

Saturday night was another example of the Panthers’ resolve. Only against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the hole they dug for themselves proved too deep.

Florida found itself down four goals in the second period but pulled within one in the third before the Lightning escaped Sunrise with a wild 5-3 win.

In the final two periods, the Panthers outshot the Lightning 38-5, but, in the end, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stood tall and willed his team to a much-needed victory.

The Lightning, which scored three goals on those five shots in the final 40 minutes, has won three straight games as it tries to hold onto one of the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference.

“You have to try and replicate it, just do it from the start,’’ said Matthew Tkachuk, whose Panthers have lost their last two after winning 18 of 21.

“They are a really good team over there, but we know we can definitely hang with them. When we take over like that. it should give us a lot of confidence that we can do that to every team.”

Florida was down 1-0 just 20 seconds into the game when Steven Stamkos scored his first of two. His cross-ice pass designed for Brandon Hagel clipped the skate of Florida’s Brandon Montour and skidded past Sergei Bobrovsky.

It would be that kind of a night for the Panthers.

Down 3-0 early in the second for the third consecutive game, Florida appeared to break through on a shot from defenseman Josh Mahura with Vasilevskiy tangled up and down on the ice.

A massive melee broke out after Dmitry Kulikov hit Tampa Bay’s Conor Sheary before the puck went in. Officials gathered and hit Kulikov with a five-minute major, allowing them to enlist video review on the play.

Kulikov’s penalty was upheld, he was ejected from the game — and Mahura’s goal came off the board.

“Never seen one of those,” Florida coach Paul Maurice said.

Added Mahura: “I don’t know what happened there, and it was unfortunate we did not get that one there.”

Tampa Bay got its second goal from Stamkos not long after to make it 4-0 — and then, the Panthers sprung to life.

Tkachuk scored on a shorthanded chance when he took the shot on a 3-on-1 break at 8:23 of the second. A little over three minutes later, and Sam Reinhart scored on the power play — setting the arena into a frenzy.

“We’ve kind of dug ourselves a hole these last couple, but our game is there,’’ said Reinhart, who now has 48 goals. “It works when we’re executing it. There are some things to tighten up early.’’

Although Florida had all the momentum and carried through by completely dominating play, Vasilevskiy did not give in.

The Panthers finally made it a 4-3 game when Reinhart got his second of the night with 3:52 remaining.

Florida pulled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for one final push, but Nikita Kucherov got his 40th of the season by putting the puck into that empty net with 1:32 left to put the Panthers away.

The Panthers outshot Tampa Bay 50-16 in the game, with Vasilevskiy making 47 saves.

Last month, Vasilevskiy gave up six goals on 22 shots to the Panthers before being pulled after the second period. Florida won that one, 9-2.

Payback?

A little.

In the end, as Stamkos said, Tampa Bay “really needed these two points.’’

With the loss, the Panthers fell a point back of Boston for the lead in the Atlantic Division, as well as the Eastern Conference and NHL standings.

Florida is off until Thursday, when it plays host to the Nashville Predators. Maurice has two practice days set for his team — and with the playoffs coming, the Panthers need it.

“One day off and then we’re back to work Monday,’’ Maurice said. “We will get two solid skates in, and we haven’t had that, and won’t again. It will probably be the last two meaningful practices we will have, in some ways, of the year. And then we still have some work to do. Very, very heavy schedule coming up. Our heaviest of the year.’’