The Florida Panthers are in an unfamiliar position for the first time in these playoffs — they actually trail in a series.

The defending champions lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Wednesday evening after blowing a 3-1 lead. But Brad Marchand knows that's no reason to panic.

Via The Athletic:

“It’s one game. You can’t get stuck in the past here. So we’ll regroup, refocus and get ready for the next one,” Marchand said.

The veteran also said the Panthers need to play cleaner hockey:

“They just pushed,” said Marchand. “A couple pucks we didn’t really get deep. Gotta be a little bit better making plays under pressure, getting our legs going a little bit more. We got caught just kind of flipping pucks, and they’d regroup and come back at us. So, a little cleaner there.”

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It was an impressive night for Marchand, who scored his eighth career Stanley Cup Finals goal in the second period to give Florida a 2-1 lead. Sam Bennett then added a third, but the Oilers roared back with a pair of unanswered goals to force overtime. Leon Draisaitl ultimately won it, putting away a perfect pass from co-star Connor McDavid.

Rookie Tomas Nosek was unfortunately the one to blame after he took a senseless delay-of-game penalty in OT to give the Oilers the man advantage.

“It’s a tough break,” said Panthers boss Paul Maurice. “So we’ll just make sure he doesn’t eat alone tonight. He’s got lots of people sitting at his table and reminding him how good he’s been. It’s going to be tough. He’s going to eat that one for a day.”

The Panthers are a resilient team, and they will be motivated to respond. It's important they can win one on the road before heading home for Games 3 and 4. The past is the past, and all the focus is now on Game 2.