Over his past four games, Matthew Tkachuk has racked up five goals and 13 points

The Florida Panthers extended their point streak to six games on Saturday night in Sunrise.

Facing the young and scrappy San Jose Sharks, Florida grabbed the first goal of the game and didn’t look back, earning a 3-1 victory in front of an exuberant Amerant Bank Arena crowd.

It didn’t take long for the Panthers to strike first, and it was their hottest forward who got things started.

Matthew Tkachuk swatted a Sam Bennett rebound out of midair with his backhand, beating Mackenzie Blackwood over the shoulder to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead just 23 seconds into the game.

The Cats would keep Blackwood very busy throughout the first period but the 6-foot-4 goaltender stood tall, stopping the next 13 shots, including another two high-danger shots, to keep the game at 1-0.

He was up to 24 saves by the game’s midway point, but that’s when Tkachuk snuck another one by.

Flying down the right wing, Tkachuk took a backhand from a sharp angle that went off Blackwood’s arm and trickled into the net.

Sasha Barkov made it 3-0 Florida with a sharp angle power play goal a few minutes later on a play that was started by Tkachuk, saving a zone clear attempt and firing the puck across the zone to Carter Verhaeghe.

Verhaeghe spotted Barkov at the back post and one-timed a pass across the zone, and while it was tipped by Reinhart on the way across, Barkov found it and made no mistake.

The third period was probably San Jose’s best, but on a night like this, that’s not saying much.

If not for the brilliance of Blackwood, the score would have been much more lop sided.

On to Seattle.

QUICK THOUGHTS

Tkachuk has logged four consecutive multi-point outings and overall is riding a six-game streak in which he’s logged 15 total points.

It’s now a career-high seven-game point streak for Sam Bennett. He’s racked up four goals and eight points during the run.

Barkov is now up to four goals and nine points as his streak was extended to six games.

Reinhart picked up an assist, giving him 38 points in 28 games. He’s only played in four games this season where he failed to record a point.

Florida’s penalty kill was excellent, holding the Sharks to 0-for-6 while up a man. 

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