Florida got a pair of goals from its fourth line during Tuesday's win over the Sharks

Tuesday night in San Jose the Florida Panthers faced a Sharks team that has been universally considered as the worst in the league so far this season.

Once the game got going, however, it was clear that the rebuilding Sharks – who not that long ago were a perennial playoff team in the Western Conference – had come to play and give the visiting Panthers their best shot.

San Jose scored three goals, something they had only done once all season, and overcame a third period deficit before the Panthers ultimately came out on top 5-3 thanks to a trio of goals during the game’s final ten minutes.

The Panthers now hold a 10-4-1 record on the season and will wrap up their week in California with back-to-back games in Los Angeles and Anaheim on Thursday and Friday.

Now let's get to THN Florida's three takeaways from Tuesday's win. 

Sharks put up a fight

You can look at all the statistics and make all the predictions you want, but at the end of the day its 20 men on the ice who will decide the outcome of an NHL game.

San Jose came into Tuesday’s matchup looking like a team far inferior on paper, but that’s not quite how things shook out on the ice, was it?

“They played hard,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice. “They checked hard, and they closed gaps, and they blocked shots, and they worked hard, so I didn't think at any point on the bench that we're under playing because we're not up by three or four there. The other team played hard, so that's what you're going to get. You're going to get a tight game.”

Production from fourth line

It’s not always easy for a fourth line to put up good numbers, whether that be on the scoreboard or just while looking through advanced metrics.

That’s because it’s a group that is often put in difficult situations to manage and has to create positive opportunities on their own. 

Fourth lines generally get matched up against high-end talent and tasked with mucking up the game, often finding themselves starting shifts in less-than-ideal situations.

It’s for those reasons and many more why seeing those fourth line players rewarded with scoring production is always welcomed.

Tuesday night, Ryan Lomebrg opened the scoring for Florida, and then Kevin Stenlund picked up what would end up the game-winning goal with under nine minutes to go in the game.

“It was important,” Maurice said of Tuesday’s fourth line contribution. “They’ve been good for us all year, they’ve done really important things, but their last game they didn’t love So it was important for them to come out and be difference makers tonight, and they also need to do that for themselves. They work hard, they finish checks, they battle. Kevin (Stenlund) does a lot of penalty kill for us. Those guys need to get a good feeling every once in a while too, so scoring the game winner will do that for Kevin.”

Finding ways to win

Every game in the NHL is going to provide a different set of challenges.

For the Panthers, they’ve been tasked with trying to play an incredibly difficult style that takes 100% buy-in and effort from every player on the roster.

Despite missing several key players for and majority of the season – Sam Bennett played his first full game this week while Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour are expected in the lineup later this week – Florida continues to find ways to win, banking crucial points in the standings that Panthers fans know are quite important when you get toward the latter stages of the regular season.

Case in point, getting out of SAP Center on Tuesday with a big win despite falling behind in the third period while playing on the road.

“I wasn't down on the way that we played at all,” Maurice said after defeating the Sharks. “I thought San Jose played a good game. You're not going to get an easy game out of any team in the NHL when they play as hard as they did.”

LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA

Panthers stay hot, escape San Jose with 5-3 victory

Pregame notebook: Stolarz to face Sharks again, Ekblad and Montour very close to returning

Sharks welcome Panthers to San Jose in matchup of teams moving in opposite directions

Panthers forward Sam Reinhart named NHL's First Star of the Week

Panthers defensive presence has been difference in hot start to season