The Florida Panthers will aim to make it back-to-back wins when they host the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
Florida blew a 3-0 lead in Philadelphia on Thursday night but recovered to top the Flyers 7-5. Sam Reinhart had a goal and two assists, while Matthew Tkachuk added a goal and four helpers for the Panthers, who have won four of five games (4-0-1).
Aleksander Barkov, Evan Rodrigues and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist in the win.
Gustav Forsling and Niko Mikkola scored the other goals for Florida, which went 4-for-5 on the power play.
“It’s not a recipe for success down the road,” Tkachuk said. “But I guess we found a way to get this one. It was crazy. Special teams were good for us to get us a few goals. And I guess we needed them tonight.”
Reinhart shares the league lead with 19 goals entering Friday and has a team-high 37 points in 27 games this season.
On Friday, the Panthers recalled forward Mackie Samoskevich from the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers and loaned goaltender Chris Driedger to the AHL club. The roster moves indicate goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky is back with the club after missing the previous two games due to the birth of his child.
Bobrovsky is 11-5-1 with an .890 save percentage and a 3.04 goals-against average in 17 starts this season. In 20 career games against the Sharks, Bobrovsky is 13-5-2 with a .933 save percentage and a 2.29 GAA.
Saturday is the first of two regular-season meetings between the Sharks and Panthers. Florida won both games last season, 3-1 at home on Oct. 24 and 5-3 in San Jose on Nov. 14.
San Jose continues its six-game road trip on Saturday, trying to avoid a second consecutive loss. The Sharks were thumped 8-1 by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night, halting their three-game winning streak.
Alexander Wennberg scored the lone San Jose goal and Vitek Vanecek allowed five goals on Tampa’s first 12 shots before being replaced by Mackenzie Blackwood.
“We weren’t ready from the start,” San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Didn’t skate, didn’t compete … didn’t do anything well. Disappointing. I thought we had a good morning skate, good energy, good meetings.
“… I thought our guys were excited for the challenge tonight, but we got a reality check of when you don’t skate, and you don’t compete against really good hockey or any team in the National Hockey League, this is what’s going to happen.”
Rookie forward Macklin Celebrini, the 2024 first overall pick, saw his five-game point streak end in the loss.
Tyler Toffoli and Mikael Granlund have 10 goals each to lead the Sharks, while Granlund has a team-leading 29 points in 27 games this season.
Blackwood is 6-8-3 with a .907 save percentage and a 3.00 GAA in 18 games this season. He is 3-3-0 in six all-time appearances against the Panthers, posting a .913 save percentage and a 3.34 GAA.
The Sharks and Panthers conclude the season series on Jan. 25 in San Jose.
–Field Level Media
