The Florida Panthers hosted the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night at BB&T Center and beat them easily 4-1. The Cats snapped a three-game winless streak while the Sharks played their third game of a long seven-game road trip.
The Panthers waited until the middle of the first period to score as they tallied twice in less than two minutes. Jimmy Hayes got the first goal for Florida(5-4-4) at 10:56 in the slot area for his second this year. Jussi Jokinen had the puck in the left corner and centered to Vincent Trocheck at the edge of the left circle and he redirected it to a wide open Hayes in front.
Aleksander Barkov added to the gap as he scored on a close range shot against Antti Niemi at 12:18 for his second goal this season with assists from Scottie Upshall and Tomas Kopecky.
The Cats extended their lead to a three-goal cushion during the second period at 6:37. Aaron Ekblad fired a slapshot from the right point in which Niemi made the initial save. Derek MacKenzie swept in the long rebound for his second tally this season.
Early in the third period, San Jose(8-7-2) gave up another goal at 3:01. Shawn Thornton carried the puck through the left circle and sent a cross-ice pass to Tomas Fleischmann in the low slot area where he scored on a wrist shot to make it 4-0.
The Sharks finally got on the scoreboard with 9:25 left in regulation as Joe Thornton got his fifth goal of the season. Brent Burns pounded a slap shot from the right point which was batted in the air by Roberto Luongo and Thornton poked in the loose puck into the Panthers cage. Thornton, a longtime Panther nemesis, compiled his tenth goal and 29th point in 34 career games against Florida.
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