5 Takeaways: Panthers Kick Off Road Trip With Big Win in San Jose

If you ask any player in the locker room, they'll tell you the same thing.
"We needed this one."
Looking to regain some ground in the playoff hunt, the Florida Panthers opened up their crucial five-game road trip with a 5-3 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Monday night.

"We played a strong, simple game," Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. "We played with puck possession. We weren't scared to make plays. All that factors in. I think we did a great job of really just keeping our composure all night… We can bring that confidence to every game."
The Panthers and Sharks traded goals in the first period. After Evgenii Dadonov followed-up his own shot with a gritty rebound goal on Aaron Dell to put Florida up 1-0 at 4:52, Dylan Gambrell went on to beat Sergei Bobrovsky with a shot from the slot at 11:30 to get the game knotted 1-1.
In the second period, Mike Hoffman intercepted a pass in the defensive zone before slipping the puck through Dell's pads on a breakaway to put the Panthers ahead 2-1 at the 11-minute mark. Then, at 10:04 of the third period, Colton Sceviour lit the lamp to increase the advantage to 3-1.
After going almost 14 minutes without registering a shot to start the third period, the Sharks cut their deficit down to 3-2 with 5:26 left in regulation when a shot from Kevin Labanc took a lucky bounce on the power play. But, just 2:32 later, Anton Stralman put Florida back up 4-2 at 17:06.
Bobrovsky finished with 29 saves on 32 shots, while Dell turned aside 23 of 27.
"It was a big game for us," Bobrovsky said. "I thought guys did a whole consistent 60-minute effort. In the third, they didn't give [the Sharks] much, other than two goals. But I think it's more unlucky plays. Overall, I think we controlled the puck well. We protected the puck well and we advanced the puck. We advanced the puck defensively. I thought the guys did a great job."
Not going down without a fight, Timo Meier got San Jose right back within striking distance once again with a goal at 18:20 before Vincent Trocheck finally iced the game away with a very timely empty-net goal that locked in the 5-3 victory for the Panthers with five seconds left on the clock.

With the win, the Panthers (31-22-6) now trail the Toronto Maple Leafs (31-21-8) by two points for third place in the Atlantic Division with one game in hand and 23 still left to play this season.
"You've got to take care of your own business in our league," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "We got responsible as the game got going. We needed these points in the worst way."
Here are five takeaways from Monday's win in San Jose…

1. DADONOV OPENS IT UP

You've got to love the hard work that went into this goal.
Following his own rebound after his initial re-direction attempt from the doorstep was stopped by Dell, Dadonov, while being pushed to the ice by a defender, regained control of the puck before sliding his own rebound into the back of the net to put the Panthers up at 4:52 of the first period.

"Nice play," Quenneville said. "Throw it at the net. Good things happen when we get there."
Leading the Panthers with 24 goals this season, Dadonov has touched the twine 10 times over his last 20 games. Ranking fourth on the team with 43 points, the 30-year-old winger has been getting the party started quite often this season, pacing the team with 10 goals in the first period.

2. SILKY SMOOTH

We all know how powerful Hoffman's shot is, but he showed off a soft touch on this goal.
After intercepting an attempted pass from Brent Burns in his own zone, Hoffman flew up the ice on a breakaway. Fending off a defender, he switched from his backhand to his forehand before deftly sliding the puck through Dell's five-hole to put Florida up 2-1 at 11:00 of the middle frame.

"Sometimes you've got to try and take advantage of their mistakes or turnovers and turn them into quality chances or goals," Hoffman told FOX Sports Florida during the first intermission.
Seemingly always finding his way onto the scoresheet, Hoffman has at least one point in 15 of his last 20 games. During that stretch, he's recorded nine goals and 11 assists. In 59 games this year, the 30-year-old winger ranks second on the Panthers in goals (20) and third in points (47).
"Hoff's (Hoffman's) had more speed in his game," Quenneville said. "I think when he has speed, he finds the puck more. I thought he did some good things defensively -- a good read on the goal he scored and good speed as well when he took off."
Hoffman also fired off a team-high four shots on goal in San Jose.

3. THE FOLLOW-UP

If at first you don't succeed, just following your own rebound.
Skating into the offensive zone while facing down a defender, Sceviour sent a wrist shot on net from just beyond the circles that was stopped by Dell. Following his own rebound -- much like Dadonov -- he then backhanded home a goal to put Florida up 2-1 at 10:04 of the third period.

"That felt great, obviously," Sceviour said of the goal.
In addition to tallying his sixth goal of the season, Sceviour also had a nice night on the penalty kill. Florida's leader in shorthanded minutes this season (154:35), the 30-year-old winger skated 3:04 on the kill tonight while helping limit the Sharks to one power-play goal on four chances.
As mentioned earlier, however, that lone power-play goal was fueled by puck luck.
"We came out and got a big win to start the trip," Sceviour said. "Now, let's keep it going."

4. STRALMAN WINS IT

The game-winning goal came from the blue line tonight.
After collecting a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau, Stralman skated toward the outskirts of the right circle before rifling a shot past Dell to send Florida ahead 4-2 at 17:06 of the third period.

"Straly (Stralman) came in and fired it top corner," Ekblad said enthusiastically. "Post-and-in or bar-down, whatever it was. It really gave us that extra little push we needed to get through."
In the midst of first season with Florida, Stralman is now up to 19 points (five goals, 14 assists). In addition to those numbers, the 33-year-old blueliner is also second on the club in blocks (83).
Stralman's game-winning goal was his third of the season and fifth in his career.
"Nice play on that goal to get a little breather there at 4-2," Quenneville said.

5. EKBLAD DOES IT ALL

Ekblad was all over the ice against the Sharks.
In addition to chipping in two assists, the 24-year-old defenseman also registered one blocked shot and a game-high three takeaways while leading all Panthers skaters with 24:59 of ice time.
"I'm just trying to be responsible defensively as much as I can," Ekblad said. "The assists and stuff like that come when you're strong and reliable defensively. You create things off the rush by making good first passes and stuff like that. That's just something that I've been trying to work on. I just want to be as good as I can defensively, not too worried about the offense."

Ranking second among Florida's defensemen in points (34) this season, Ekblad reached a new career-high tonight in assists (29). Already the franchise's leader in all-time goals by a blueliner (71), his two assists in San Jose also moved him into second place in all-time assists (205).
Robert Svehla holds the franchise's all-time record for assists by a defenseman with 290.

BONUS: BARKOV'S MILESTONE

By picking up an assist tonight, Aleksander Barkov recorded the 250th assist of his career, moving him past Stephen Weiss (249) for the second-most helpers in franchise history.
Congrats!