RECAP: Sharks 4, Panthers 1

SUNRISE, Fla. – An uncharacteristic slump in the second period proved too costly for the Florida Panthers in a 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

Taking control of the game, the Sharks scored three times in a span of 5:22 in the second.

“We’ve been fortunate in the past to come off the road and be really strong, and we’re not quite there yet,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “It looked the way we feared it might.”

Making his season debut after undergoing surgery in the offseason to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia, Matthew Tkachuk received a very loud roar from the crowd when he hopped over the boards and took the ice for his long-awaited first shift in the first period.

Getting right back into the action, the hard-nosed forward was physical right off the bat.

“Personally, it was such a relief and nice to be out there,” said Tkachuk, who hadn’t played since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in June. “I felt better as it went along. The first period was weird, I will say. It was a little strange. Nothing mimics a game. It was a weird, but in the second period I felt a little better. In the third, I felt pretty much back to normal.”

With no goals to speak of, the first period ended with the Panthers leading 9-8 in shots.

Just 50 seconds into the second period, the Sharks took the lead when Will Smith tucked a rebound past Sergei Bobrovsky. Capitalizing on another rebound opportunity less than two minutes later, Vincent Desharnais doubled San Jose’s advantage to 2-0 with a goal at 2:41.

At 6:12, Mario Ferraro followed suit and potted a rebound to make it 3-0.

Keeping the Panthers from falling behind even further, Bobrovsky flashed leather to rob Tyler Toffoli of what looked like a surefire goal from the right doorstep later in the period.

Taking his last shift with 4:21 left in the middle frame, Niko Mikkola, a key cog on the back end, was absent from Florida’s bench to start the third period and did not return to action due to an undisclosed injury.

Already missing Seth Jones and Dmitry Kulikov on the blue line, the hope is the big D-man is OK.

“We’ll get a better handle on it tomorrow,” Maurice said of Mikkola’s status.

Cutting into the deficit for the Panthers just 43 seconds into the third period, Eetu Luostarinen beat Alex Nedeljovic with a shot from below the blue line to make it 3-1.

With an assist on the goal, Aaron Ekblad recorded his 400^th career NHL point.

“My game is far from defined by points at this point of my career,” said Ekblad, who the Panthers drafted with the first-overall pick back in 2014. “I’m sure it’s nice to see, but it pales in comparison to some of the things these other guys are doing. Like I said, I’m not defined by points anymore. I’m more of a defensive player.”

At the 14-minute mark, things got wild.

After Nedeljkovic joined a scrum behind San Jose’s net, Bobrovsky, throwing his usual Zen-like chill to the wind, flew down the ice and dropped the gloves with the Sharks netminder.

Outside of the two Stanley Cups, it’s safe to say the arena has never been louder.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Tkachuk said. “When the best goalie in the world is doing that, it’s pretty incredible. We know what he’s meant to our team since I’ve been here. He just added another part to his game, I think. The building was rocking. It was really, really cool.”

From there, the Panthers played some of their best hockey.

Sadly, it was too little too late.

With 2:39 left in regulation and the Panthers having pulled Bobrovsky to gain a 6-on-5 advantage, Barclay Goodrow scored on the empty net to lock in the 4-1 win for San Jose.

In the third period, the Panthers led 17-8 in scoring chances.

“When one of our best players is kind of going out of his comfort zone – or any goalie’s comfort zone – it’s probably a little bit of a spark,” Tkachuk said of Bobrovsky’s boost. “Players should take that as a spark. We pushed, but couldn’t quite get it. We need to use that fire and that energy from our backbone, Bob, and use it on this next road trip.”

THEY SAID IT

“This is our challenge that we’re dealing with, and we’re going to deal with it straight through the year. Guys that come in will have to make an impact right away because we’re going to be chasing this thing right until the end.” -- Paul Maurice

“I thought [the goalie fight] was awesome. We loved it. We don’t want to see him do that a lot, but we absolutely loved it.” -- Matthew Tkachuk

“That (the fan support after the fight) was exciting, for sure. That was great and emotional. I did not know that there would be that much [chanting], but it was a good feeling.” -- Sergei Bobrovsky

CATS STATS

- The Sharks led 12-8 in high-danger shot attempts.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made six high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

- Anton Lundell won a team-high 12 faceoffs.

- Aaron Ekblad is the first defenseman in Panthers history to record 400 points.

- Matthew Tkachuk saw 20:58 of ice time in his season debut.

WHAT’S NEXT?

On the road again.

The Panthers will kick off a three-game trip with a matchup against the Winnipeg Jets at Canadian Life Centre on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.

To find a place to watch in South Florida, click HERE.