Panthers scored four times in the second period while losing Aaron Ekblad and Evan Rodrigues to injury. Tarasenko with three points in the victory
The Florida Panthers took the ice on Saturday afternoon in the second game of a quick two-game home stand. Florida was looking to avoid dropping their second straight on Kids Day from Amerant Bank Arena. All the fathers on the roster had their children with them on the ice pregame.
Florida took advantage of the Calgary Flames mistakes and used a four-goal second period to break it open to defeat them 5-1 from Sunrise to split the season series. Florida has not lost two in a row since the middle of January.
Saturday was also a milestone night for defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who skated in his 672nd game in a Panthers uniform. The former first overall pick from the 2014 NHL Entry Draft passed Jonathan Huberdeau for second all-time in games played for the franchise.
Ekblad’s milestone happened to be with Huberdeau on the opposite end of the ice as the Panthers welcomed him and Mackienzie Weegar back to South Florida. This was their second matchup since the blockbuster trade back in July of 2022 that brought Matthew Tkachuk to South Florida.
Neither team got on the scoresheet in the first period. Calgary had the better scoring chances throughout the first 20 minutes, but goaltender Anthony Stolarz helped Florida survive the period. Each team killed off one penalty to keep it scoreless.
The Panthers lost Ekblad in the first period after he collided with Vladimir Tarasenko in the neutral zone. He went down the tunnel and did not return to the game.
It was the second game in a row where neither team scored in the first but did so less than 30 seconds into the second period. This time, it was the Panthers who struck first.
The Flames had the puck at the far side corner, where Huberdeau tried clearing it down the middle. Tarasenko intercepted the puck in the slot and found the back of the net off of a turnover to give Florida their first lead of the game 23 seconds into the second frame. It did not take long for Tarasenko to score in a Panthers sweater as Saturday was his second game since being acquired in a trade.
Calgary answered on the power play just over five minutes later and seven seconds into the man advantage. Calgary won the draw and got a quick shot on net, Stolarz made the initial save on Nazem Kadri, but Yegor Sharangovich was on the doorstep and finished off of a rebound to tie the game at one at 5:51 of the second.
Florida responded 28 seconds later.
Weegar had an errant pass on a breakout, where it found the stick of Tarasenko in the neutral zone. After a quick chip into the Flames zone Sam Reinhart with his backhand hit Aleksander Barkov on the quick two-on-one where the captain scored on a one-timer from the right side to give the Panthers the lead once again.
Florida extended their lead to two at 13:12. Off a faceoff win, Matthew Tkachuk prevented a clear by Calgary and found Gustav Forsling at the point. The shot from the blue line was redirected by Sam Bennett parked in front of Markstrom.
Originally ruled no goal, the officials changed the call to a “good goal.” The referees also went to review to see if the puck was hit with a high stick. It was ruled a good goal on the ice to give Bennett his 15th of the season.
The Panthers kept pouring it on in the middle frame. With some open ice due to a four-on-four, Tarasenko got on the score sheet again where his wrist shot went off the glove of Markstrom and past him to extend the lead to three.
Huberdeau and former teammate Carter Verhaeghe got coincidental cross-checking penalties to create the open ice before the score.
Florida lost Evan Rodgrigues in the period after blocking a shot from the blue line. He was slow to get up and had to get help going down the tunnel.
Rodrigues did not return to the game, where Florida had to play the final 20 minutes with 11 forwards and five defensemen.
Head Coach Paul Maurice after the game said that there will be an update on Ekblad and Rodrigues' injury status on Monday.
The Panthers scored once again off of Calgary’s poor puck management. Eetu Luostarinen picked off Weegar’s pass from center ice, where Florida quickly got up in transition. Luostarinen hit Kevin Stenlund from his back hand after gaining the zone. Stenlund fought off a check and got his 10th of the season to extend the lead even further to four at 4:30 of the third period.
Stenlund now has his first double digit goal season, and the first Panther this season not named Reinhart to score a goal while down a man.
Florida split the season series with the Flames and the two-game homestand while holding on to their league best record, which reads at 44-17-4.
Tarasenko had two goals and an assist, Stenlund scored short-handed, and Stolarz stopped 34 of 35 shots in the win.
Stolarz has won five straight starts, the longest streak of his career.
Panthers will now hit the road for their next two. First, a meeting with the Dallas Stars on Tuesday from the American Airlines Center in hopes to sweep the season series.
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