Cats throttle Sharks for third win in a row
The Panthers, who have no games for the next 10 days, are heading into their break on a hot streak.
The Panthers scored two third-period power-play goals within nine seconds to defeat the visiting San Jose Sharks 6-2 on Monday night.
It marked the Panthers’ third consecutive win, and all of those victories have coincided with the return from injury of 2017 All-Star center Vincent Trocheck, who scored Florida’s fourth goal in the game.
Florida’s first three goals were scored by defensemen — Aaron Ekblad, Mike Matheson and Keith Yandle.
But it wasn’t just those three defensemen who had fun for the Panthers. Winger Frank Vatrano had one goal and a career-high three assists.
Known more for his speed and scoring, Vatrano has 16 goals and 10 assists
this season — both career highs.
In this game, Vatrano was on the top line with captain Aleksander Barkov and Evgenii Dadonov, and that unit combined for one goal and eight assists.
The score was tied 2-2 with 2:27 expired in the third, but that’s when those two quick goals happened, including Yandle on the power play.
Special teams, in fact, were big for the Panthers as they went 2 for 3 on the power play and killed off San Jose’s two man-advantage opportunities.
Goalie Roberto Luongo earned the win, making 27 saves.
Florida got the only goal of the first period as Ekblad scored with 17:21 elapsed. The play started with a steal by Vatrano, who drop-passed to Barkov, who had the primary assist. Barkov found Ekblad, who fired from the point, beating Jones with a high shot stick-side.
That ended a Panthers drought of more than 10 minutes without a shot on goal.
San Jose tied the score 1-1 on Logan Couture’s deflection with 4:21 expired in the second period. The Sharks kept the puck in Florida’s defensive zone for 29 seconds before cashing in as San Jose star defenseman Brent Burns picked up his 44th assist of the season, which ranks among the top five in the NHL.
The Panthers went back on top, 2-1, on Matheson’s one-timer goal with 6:07 elapsed in the second.
The Sharks tied the score 2-2 with 13:19 gone in the second period on a goal by Timo Meier, who stuffed the puck past Luongo’s left pad. Panthers coach Bob Boughner challenged the call, looking for a call of interference by San Jose’s Joe Pavelski on Luongo.
However, it was ruled a good goal because it was a loose puck.
The momentum of the game changed when San Jose’s Evander Kane was penalized for four minutes — a double minor — after hitting Florida’s Nick Bjugstad in the face with his stick.
That led to the goals by Yandle and Trocheck. Vatrano and Bjugstad (on a power play) added late goals to complete the rout.
THIS AND THAT
Coming off a sevengame losing streak that was their longest in nearly six years, the Panthers have won three in a row against elite competition — Toronto, Nashville and San Jose.
Last season, the Panthers had a bad start to their season, and then they were hottest team in the NHL from Jan. 30 to the end of the regular season. They would love to get just that hot again this season.
The Panthers are 10 points back of the last wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Ekblad has 10 goals this season, giving him double-figure scores in each of his five NHL seasons. He scored a careerbest 16 goals last season.
Monday was the 25th birthday for Panthers rookie defenseman Josh Brown, who celebrated by fighting San Jose’s Brendon Dillon. Brown got the better of Dillon in the brawl.