After getting back on track with a win against the Blue Jackets, the Florida Panthers were back in action looking to win two straight against the San Jose Sharks.
The game got off to a rough start as both sides were displaying chippy behavior early on. Mike Hoffman and Erik Karlsson both exchanged shoves and words in their first meeting since playing together back in Ottawa.
The Florida Panthers decided to get away from the physical play and instead, play their game by getting on the board first. After Frank Vatrano drew a hooking call, the Panthers immediately cashed in on the first power play of the game as Evgenii Dadonov redirected Keith Yandle’s point shot.
Shortly after, the Panthers doubled their lead after Dadonov and Aleksander Barkov both connected for a goal. Dadonov beautifully fed Barkov with a golden-platter pass, which Barkov just had to tap in to record his tenth of the season, tying Stephen Weiss for most goals in franchise history (145).
Unfortunately, the Panthers’ two-goal lead didn’t last long as the Sharks trimmed their lead on the power play. After Aaron Ekblad took an ill-advised penalty, Kevin Labanc wasted no time putting his side on the board, snapping a shot past Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Cats would continue to press throughout the remainder of the first but were unable to beat Martin Jones, heading into the locker room up by a goal (2-1) after twenty minutes of play.
To start the second, Jones denied Vincent Trocheck on a partial breakaway which caught the Sharks by surprise early on.
Moments later, Evander Kane went after MacKenzie Weegar, following the hit that he took prior to their fight. Kane approached Weegar, exchanged some shoves, and the two went for a little dance which Kane got the better of.
Because of Kane’s excessive behavior during the incident, the Sharks forward received two minutes for instigating, five for fighting, and a ten-minute misconduct, which resulted in a Panthers power play.
Immediately after the man advantage expired, Mike Matheson grabbed his first of the season after firing a shot through Jones’ five-hole to regain the Panthers’ two-goal lead (3-1).
There were a couple of good minutes where the Sharks completely controlled play in the Panthers’ end, as a result of Yandle’s turnover at the blue line. Thankfully, Bobrovsky was sharp and denied every shot that came his way.
Things started to heat up as both teams exchanged high-danger chances at either end of the ice. Barkov and Huberdeau both raced down the ice on a 2-on-1, which resulted in Brent Burns breaking up the play, while Bobrovsky was forced to come up big as the Sharks countered back the other way for a scoring chance of their own.
After forty minutes of play, the Panthers still remained in the lead, this time with a two-goal advantage next to their name.
In the final frame, the Cats were faced to kill off an eighteen-second 5-on-3, which they handled with ease. After Ekblad and Hoffman got out of the box, the Panthers went back to controlling the game.
On a four-minute power play, the Panthers cashed in fairly quickly through Brett Connolly – who pounced on a loose rebound and stuffed the puck home to give the Cats a three-goal cushion.
The Sharks then pulled their goalie with a couple of minutes remaining in an attempt to slice the Panthers’ lead but failed when Vatrano threw a shot from his end towards the empty net, signaling the end of the hockey game. The Panthers would go close the game out in comfortable fashion, 5-1.
In short, the Panthers were nothing shy of solid throughout the evening match, showcasing determination from the very start to win the two points in regulation. Bobrovsky’s 29-save effort certainly helped guide the Cats through easy water, as Florida closed out the weekend with the much-needed four points.
Your Panthers are back in action on Tuesday, December. 10 @ 7 P.M. against their in-state rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, looking to extend their win streak to three.