National Hockey League
Florida 7, San Jose 2
When: 10:00 PM ET, Saturday, January 25, 2025
Where: SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, California
Referees: Chris Lee, Jordan Samuels-Thomas
Linesmen: Ryan Gibbons, Mitch Hunt
Attendance: 17435

Matthew Tkachuk scored once in a three-point outing while Aaron Ekblad collected one goal and one assist in his return to the lineup to pace the visiting Florida Panthers to a 7-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

A.J. Greer also notched one goal and one assist, while Nate Schmidt, Sam Bennett, Jesper Boqvist and Sam Reinhart added singles for Florida, which has won four of six games.

Goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves.

Cody Ceci and Will Smith replied for the last-place Sharks, who are riding a six-game skid and have lost nine of 10. Starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev surrendered four goals on 15 shots before being pulled early in the second period. Yaroslav Askarov made 14 saves in relief.

San Jose has surrendered 34 goals in its six-game skid.

The Panthers erased a one-goal deficit thanks to six unanswered goals.

After Schmidt opened the scoring with a rocket of a shot from the point at the 5:47 mark, the Sharks staked a lead thanks to goals 32 seconds apart by Ceci and Smith.

Ceci put the hosts on the board with a deflection while parked at the front of the net at the 6:50 mark, and Smith made it a 2-1 game by pouncing on a loose puck for his eighth goal in his rookie season.

However, the Panthers took over soon after. Bennett tied the clash at 14:27 when he converted a second chance during a flurry of action. Ekblad, who missed seven games due to an upper-body injury, found the mark with a point shot at 17:08.

Greer's goal at 3:01 of the second period, a breakaway tally, sent Georgiev to the bench in favor of Askarov, but the goalie change did little to slow the Panthers.

Tkachuk added a power-play goal at 5:35 with a nifty deflection to make it a 5-2 game, then Boqvist extended the edge by finishing a cross-crease feed from Anton Lundell at 13:07 of the period.

Reinhart's rebound goal three minutes later capped a four-goal second period for the Panthers, and rounded out the scoring.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Florida   San Jose
Matthew Tkachuk 3 Points Cody Ceci 1
Matthew Tkachuk 1 Goals Cody Ceci 1
Matthew Tkachuk 2 Assists Mario Ferraro 1
Matthew Tkachuk 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Sergei Bobrovsky .913 Save Percentage Yaroslav Askarov .824
Sergei Bobrovsky 21 Saves Yaroslav Askarov 14
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Florida 32 7 1-2 1-1 2 29
San Jose 23 2 0-1 1-2 4 26
Upcoming Games
  • San Jose will play their next game at home against Pittsburgh. The Sharks have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .243 after a loss.
  • Florida will play their next game on the road against Vegas. The Panthers have a W/L % of .552 after a win and .619 after a loss.