Aaron Ekblad scores in return from injury in the Panthers' 7-2 victory over the Sharks

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Defenseman Aaron Ekblad had a goal and an assist in his return from an upper-body injury and the Florida Panthers routed the San Jose Sharks 7-2 on Saturday night.

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, and Nate Schmidt, Sam Bennett, A.J. Greer, Jesper Boqvist and Sam Reinhart also scored. Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves.

Florida outscored San Jose 4-0 in the second period, extending a 3-2 lead into a blowout.

Cody Ceci and Will Smith scored for the Sharks. They have lost six straight and 10 of 11.

Greer put the Panthers up 4-2 early in the second, chasing goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who was replaced by Yaroslav Askarov. Tkachuk, Boqvist and Reinhart promptly added goals to give the Panthers a 7-2 lead heading into the third.

The Panthers led 3-2 after the first period with Ekblad, who returned to Florida’s top defensive pairing after missing eight of the last nine games, giving the Panthers the lead.

Takeaways

Panthers: The Panthers tied a season high with the seven goals, and responded after scoring just one goal Wednesday night in a loss to the Kings.

Sharks: They have allowed at least five goals in each of the last three games. They've given up the most goals in the NHL this season.

Key moment

Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky pulled Georgiev three minutes into the second period, but any hope of a goaltending switch sparking the club from a 4-2 deficit was quickly extinguished when the Panthers scored three times the rest of the period.

Key stat

The Panthers had their third four-goal period of the season.

Up next

The Panthers are Vegas on Sunday night. The Sharks host Pittsburgh on Monday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Eric He, The Associated Press