Sam Reinhart scored twice, Eric Staal added two empty-net goals and the Florida Panthers beat the visiting San Jose Sharks 4-1 on Thursday night in Sunrise.
Reinhart has 19 goals this season and six in his past eight games. Eetu Luostarinen led the Panthers in assists with two, and Florida killed off a late double-minor penalty.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves as Florida won its third straight game — its longest winning streak this season. Bobrovsky has a team-high 14 victories.
Despite the win, two Panthers had points streaks snapped – Brandon Montour at 10 games and Matthew Tkachuk at seven. Montour’s streak is the longest ever by a Panthers defenseman.
Alexander Barabanov scored for the Sharks, and goalie Kaapo Kahkonen made 38 saves.
San Jose’s Erik Karlsson, who leads all NHL defensemen in points, picked up one assist. He has seven points in his past four games and 70 for the season.
The Sharks, though, had their modest two-game win streak snapped.
Florida was without center and team captain Aleksander Barkov, who left Monday’s game against Tampa Bay due to a right-hand injury. Barkov is one of the top defensive forwards in the league, and he entered the game tied for second on the Panthers in points (47).
San Jose opened the scoring with 5:49 gone in the first period on a play that started with Karlsson’s shot from the point. Barabanov then gathered a long rebound and flipped in the puck off his backhand.
Florida tied the score with 4:30 expired in the second. After a long pass from Eric Staal, Reinhart – who was given time and space – fired a shot from the right circle that went under Kahkonen’s glove.
The Panthers took their first lead at 2-1 with just 41 seconds left in the second. Luostarinen keyed the play from the right circle, centering the puck while falling backward. Reinhart did the rest, redirecting the puck between his legs and past Kahkonen.
With 4:52 left in the third, Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad was hit with a four-minute penalty for high-sticking Timo Meier.
The Sharks then pulled their goalie with 2:14 left to give them a 6-on-4 advantage. But Luostarinen stole the puck and fed Staal for the empty-net goal with 1:39 left to give Florida a 3-1 lead. Staal’s second empty-netter came 34 seconds later.
–Field Level Media
