5 TAKEAWAYS: Knight earns first NHL shutout in win over Ducks

Jonathan Huberdeau scored two goals and Spencer Knight turned aside all 17 shots he faced to record his first-career shutout as the Panthers topped the Ducks 3-0 at Honda Center on Friday.
Earning five out of a possible eight points on their four-game trip out West, the Panthers sit at 42-14-6 and hold a six-point lead over the rival Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division.

"We just played hard," Huberdeau said. "That's our game."
Faced with a mountain of adversity right out of the gate, the Panthers lost Aaron Ekblad to a lower-body injury just over a minute into the first period after an awkward collision. Unable to put weight on his right leg, Florida's No. 1 defenseman was helped off the ice and did not return.
Luckily, the initial diagnosis is very encouraging.
"We're very hopeful," Brunette said when asked about the injury after the game. "It was way better than I thought it was going to be. We'll get a better idea tomorrow, but it's good news."
Rallying in Ekblad's absence, Huberdeau opened the scoring later in the period when he one-timed a backdoor pass from Sam Reinhart, who has been piling up the points lately, straight past John Gibson from just inside the left circle on the power play to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 13:54.
In first place in the latest edition of NHL.com's "Hart Trophy Tracker,"
Huberdeau continued to show why he's deserving of the honor when he lit the lamp again - nearly from the same exact spot - by blasting a no-look feed from Aleksander Barkov into the twine to make it 2-0 at 19:53.
Adding to the lead in the second period, Joe Thornton followed up on a shot from Noel Acciari and banged in the ensuing rebound from the doorstep to send the Panthers ahead 3-0 at 3:44.
"The whole team rallied around the injury," Panthers interim head coach Andrew Brunette said.
Playing stalwart defense in front of Knight, the Panthers surrendered just five shots on goal to the Ducks over the final 20 minutes of regulation. Helping the young goaltender maintain his blank sheet, Gustav Forsling came up with a big block with just a few minutes left on the clock.
"I definitely owe him a dinner," Knight smiled.
Dominant in the possession game, Florida finished with large advantages over Anaheim in shot attempts (67-32) and scoring chances (36-19) at 5-on-5, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
With the NHL's trade deadline coming up on Monday, the Panthers will now return home to rest up and practice for a few days before opening a three-game road trip on Thursday at Montreal.
As for Ekblad, continue reading to learn more about the positive post-game news.
Here are five takeaways from Friday's win in Anaheim…

1. HUBY FOR HART

Huberdeau looked every bit an MVP in Anaheim.
With the Panthers in need of a spark after losing Ekblad, No. 11 lit the lamp twice in the first period to bring the bench to life and make it a 2-0 contest heading into the first intermission.

Netting the 188th and 189th goals of his career, Huberdeau, within a span roughly six minutes, tied and then climbed over Olli Jokinen (188) for the second-most goals in franchise history.
His team-leading 20th multi-point performance of the season, Huberdeau is just one point behind Edmonton's Connor McDavid for the league's scoring lead with 86 points (21 goals, 65 assists).
Since Jan. 27, Huberdeau has notched 28 points (five goals, 23 assists) in 19 games.

2. POWER UP

Struggles on the power play are clearly a thing of the past for the Panthers.
With Huberdeau's goal in the first period, the Panthers have now scored on the man advantage in 21 of 31 games since Jan. 1. In that span, they've cashed in on 30 of their 98 opportunities with the extra attacker for a 30.6% success rate, which is second only to the Rangers at 30.7%.

Barkov and Reinhart are tied for first on the team with seven power-play goals each during that 31-game stretch, while Huberdeau leads in points with 18. That being said, it's certainly been a full team effort, with 10 different players scoring goals and 13 different players recording points.
After a slow start, Florida now ranks 10th in the league on the power play at 23.7%.

3. JUMBO'S GOAL

Even at 42 years old, Thornton continues to terrorize the Ducks.
Padding the lead for the Panthers early in the second period, the future Hall of Famer showed off his knack of positioning when he buried a rebound after a shot from Acciari to make it 3-0.

A thorn in Anaheim's side during the 15 seasons he spent lacing up his skates in San Jose, Thornton's 76 career points against the Ducks are the third-most by a player in NHL history.
"Since the drop of the puck, the guys have been going and engaged," Thornton said.
A skating, shooting piece of hockey history, Thornton registered the 430th goal and 1,107th point of his storied career with his timely tally tonight. Joining the Panthers on a one-year contract in the offseason, he's produced seven points (five goals, two assists) in 27 games this season.

4. EKLBAD'S OK

When it comes to Ekblad, all of South Florida can collectively exhale.
After exiting in the first period with what appeared to be a serious injury, Brunette said after the game that the team's start defenseman suffered no structural damage and should be just fine.
"This isn't last year," Brunette said confidently. "He's going to be OK."
As for when he'll be back in action, that remains to be seen.
In the meantime, even just hearing words like "short term" being used by Brunette to describe the injury are enough to bring a smile to any fans face at this point. After all, in addition to what he does defensively, Ekblad has posted a career-best 57 points (15 goals, 42 assists) this year.
"He's huge," Huberdeau said. "He's our top defensemen. He's consistent. Every night he's there. He's so good offensively, but he's a complete defenseman. He plays hard."
With no practice on Saturday, expect more updates regarding Ekblad's status on Sunday.

5. KNIGHT TIME

It was quite the road trip for Knight.
With Sergei Bobrovsky not feeling well, the 20-year-old rookie manned the crease in all four games for the Cats, going 2-1-1 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .929 save percentage.

"He's 20, so he can take it," Huberdeau grinned. "He just played so well tonight. The whole road trip he played well. Good for him. He went in the AHL for a little bit and played a lot of games. He gained some confidence and now he's up here playing well for us."
After being sent down to the AHL to get some playing time and settle into a rhythm, Knight has been extremely steady since returning to the NHL earlier this month. Overall, he's gone 12-7-3 with a .906 save percentage, including accumulating a 3-1-1 record since being called back up.
As for his 17-save shutout in Anaheim, he prefers not to get caught up in milestones.
"It's nice to get, I guess," Knight said. "But at the same time, I'm just glad to win."

BONUS: THE HIT KING

Radko Gudas is officially the king of bone-crunching body checks.
With nine hits against the Ducks, the grizzled defenseman increased his league-leading total to 279, which also moved him past Derek MacKenzie's single-season franchise record of 270.
On Thursday in Vegas, Gudas also set a single-game franchise record with 12 hits.
Congrats to the Butcher!