It was going to take a lethal confluence of bad luck and bad play for the Panthers to lose their first game in regulation when leading after two periods.

But that’s exactly what happened against the Capitals on Friday night.

Entering the showdown with Washington, Florida was 16-0-4 when going into the third period with a lead. Even more, the Panthers hadn’t lost in regulation when scoring the first goal since an Oct. 27 loss in Ottawa.

Coach Kevin Dineen said Florida fell into a “prevent defense” in Friday’s final period, and it ultimately prevented the Panthers from winning.

“When you start sitting back, things start coming at you,” Dineen said. “That’s easily not our style of play, and it obviously caught up with us.”

Not only did the Panthers struggle to withstand a third-period offensive push by the Capitals, but Florida increased its burden by racking up four penalties in the final period alone.

“When teams push, we gotta push back,” Mike Weaver said. “It’s something that every team is going to have, a push once in a while. At the beginning of the season, I thought that teams were shocked by how fast we were and how dangerous we were, and we kind of got away from [that] a little bit throughout the season.”

Weaver was at the center of one of the game’s most contentious moments. In the fourth minute of the third period, Weaver fell to the ice during a battle for the puck in front of Florida’s net. While down, Weaver took an inadvertent stick to the mouth from the Capitals’ Mike Knuble. Weaver and Dineen both said they were surprised when referees allowed play to continue with Weaver on the ice.

A few seconds later, Alex Ovechkin tied the game with his 24th goal of the season.

“If a team’s at a disadvantage because of an injured guy on the ice, and we had the puck, I would’ve blown the whistle,” Weaver said.

FAMILIAR FACES

Dineen will coach against several of his former players for the first time Sunday. As the coach of the Portland (Maine) Pirates, the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks, for the previous six years, Dineen mentored a number of the Ducks’ current starters. Forwards Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, as well as goalie Jonas Hiller all passed through Portland while Dineen was in charge.

Dineen guided the Pirates to two first-place finishes in the AHL’s Atlantic Division and five playoff appearances in six years in Portland.

“We had a pretty good run in Portland, to say the least,” Dineen said. “I was extremely fortunate to have some quality individuals and players come through Portland. … They were a pleasure to be around, fun to be on the ice with every day. I couldn’t be happier with the way their careers have progressed.”

YONKMAN RECALLED

The Panthers recalled Nolan Yonkman from their AHL affiliate in San Antonio on Saturday while reassigning Colby Robak. Dineen said Yonkman, 30, adds experience to a defensemen corps that is reeling from injuries.

“[Robak’s] still very early in his development period, and now is not the time to be looking toward that experimentation,” Dineen said. “My feeling is to get some stability in the lineup with a veteran presence.”

Since being called up last week, Robak appeared in 52 shifts in three games.