The first half of Florida’s second back-to-back this week went as expected after the first half of the first period. The Panthers were clearly a cut above the rebuilding young Sharks team as they took a decisive victory that had 12 of their 18 players make it onto the scoresheet. Aaron Ekblad made his return after missing seven games, putting the defense back to full strength. The Cats are now in a position to win three out of their four road games as they head into the match against the Golden Knights. In addition to that, Toronto lost, and that puts Florida just one point back from first place in the Atlantic division while getting more separation from Tampa Bay, which has games in hand.
Eventful First Period:
Despite the late starting time, there was no lack of action in the first period to keep fans awake. Five goals were scored in just the first period, and Nate Schmidt opened the scoring with a hard slapshot from the point to give Florida the 1-0 lead just under six minutes into the period. The lead didn’t last long, however, as the Sharks answered back just over a minute later with a tipped-in goal by Ceci. A big rebound off the end boards landed right on Will Smith’s stick which he then took a quick shot to give San Jose the 1-2 lead with about 13 minutes left in the period. That was the last lead the Sharks held as the Panthers kicked their game into gear and took control. A broken play and scramble in front of the Sharks’ net saw Sam Bennett tie the game by pushing the puck past Georgiev with A.J. Greer and Niko Mikkola on the assists. A pass from Tkachuk to Ekblad at the point led to a goal and the 3-2 lead for the Cats. It wasn’t a particularly hard shot from Ekblad, but it found its way through the traffic and into the net. HC Paul Maurice was pleased to see Ekblad score in his first game back, saying that he wants guys to feel good after they’d been out awhile in his post-game interview.
Offensive Takeover:
The scoring didn’t slow down in the second period. A. J. Greer had a great night with his first multi-point game as a Panther, which included his assist on Bennett’s goal, and then he scored his own goal in the second on a breakaway off a fantastic pass from Nosek. After allowing in four goals on 14 shots, the Sharks decided to swap the goalies and put in Askarov. Not that Askarov fared much better against the potent Florida offense as Tkachuk tipped in a shot from Barkov for the 5-2 lead just over five and half minutes into the second. Moving into the second half of the period, Jesper Boqvist got in on the scoring action, with Lundell and Verhaeghe getting the assists. Lundell walked the puck in and passed to Verhaeghe who then passed it back as Lundell drove to the net. A no-look drop pass from Lundell found Boqvist, who put it past Askarov for his 12th goal of the season. A failed clear, great passing from Barkov and Tkachuk, and a dash of net-front chaos led to Reinhart scoring his 29th goal of the season and a league-leading 19th road goal. The Cats finished the period with a 7-2 lead and went into the third managing the game to hold the lead.
Managing The Final Twenty:
With the lead firmly secured, Florida was able to roll all four lines and defensive pairings in the final period. Being able to manage ice time for their top players ahead of a game against Vegas less than 24 hours after this one concluded. HC Paul Maurice opted to roll the fourth line for extra minutes not only to allow guys rest but also because they’d earned that opportunity. The fourth line created some fantastic scoring chances against San Jose and played hard to pressure the Sharks all night long. Only Mikkola and Kulikov had over twenty minutes of ice time and the majority of the forwards had under sixteen minutes of ice time; Tkachuk was the one outlier and had 16:40 on ice. Bobrovsky, after giving up two quick goals in the first period, was stellar the rest of the night and ended the game with a .913 SV% and 21 saves on 23 shots. Florida’s defense did the heavy lifting as they limited San Jose to just four SOG in the final period. While the Cats still put shots to the net, there were only two that were really dangerous. I wouldn’t say they coasted in the final period, but offensively, they weren’t pressing as hard as in the first two periods. It was a feel-good win for the Panthers as they finished up in California and move on to Las Vegas.
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