Sam Bennett and Carter Verhaeghe each logged three points Saturday against the Oilers

After back-to-back shutout losses, the Florida Panthers got back in the win column in a big way on Saturday night in Edmonton.

Production-a-plenty on one end and a sparkling effort in goal on the other end would fuel Florida’s 5-1 triumph over the Oilers.

A strong early shift by the Panthers second line got the Cats off on a strong start, and it would be Carter Verhaeghe picking up his 14th goal of the season off a nice cross-ice feed from Sam Bennett, putting the Panthers up 1-0 at the 5:33 mark.

Florida turned up the heat late in the period, outshooting the Oilers 6-1 during the final three minutes and picking up a pair of goals 30 seconds apart by Brandon Montour and Sasha Barkov.

The packed Rogers Place fans seemed shellshocked as the Panthers took a 3-0 lead into the intermission. 

While the Panthers were doing well to light the lamp, the goaltending they were receiving from Sergei Bobrovsky was elite.

Zach Hyman, Edmonton’s leading goal scorer, finally got one past Bob when he scored his 18th of the season midway through the second period, but a Sam Bennett power play goal kept Florida’s three-goal advantage intact heading into the final frame.

It didn’t take long for the Cats to pick up a little more insurance, thanks to Verhaeghe’s second of the game coming just 21 seconds into the third.

Bobrovsky stopped Sam Gagner on a penalty shot early in the third period, staying with the veteran on an elaborate attempt and keeping momentum on Florida’s side.

Edmonton didn’t put up much of a fight after that, keeping superstars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl mostly off the ice for the remainder of the game.

On to Calgary, with a chance to finish the road trip above .500.

Here are some thoughts and observations from Saturday’s win in Edmonton:

Florida Improved to 13-0-1 when leading after two periods.

Bobrovsky finished with 38 saves, indulging eight high danger stops and had an expected goals against of 3.11, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Defenseman Josh Mahura played his first game since being injured on Nov. 16 in Los Angeles. He skated 23 shifts and finished with two hits, a takeaway and two blocked shots.

In addition to scoring, Barkov was also called for two minor penalties. He had just six penalty minutes entering Saturday’s game.

Verhaeghe, Bennett and Oliver Ekman-Larsson all had two points during the first period.

Bennett and Verhaeghe ended up with three points apiece. 

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