Aaron Ekblad scores in return from injury in the Panthers’ 7-2 rout of the Sharks

By ERIC HE SAN JOSE, Calif.

Defenseman Aaron Ekblad had a goal and an assist in his return from an upper-body injury and the Florida Panthers routed the San Jose Sharks 7-2 on Saturday night.

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, and Nate Schmidt, Sam Bennett, A.J.

Greer, Jesper Boqvist and Sam Reinhart also scored.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves.

Florida outscored San Jose 4-0 in the second period, extending a 3-2 lead into a blowout.

Cody Ceci and Will Smith scored for the Sharks.

They have lost six straight and 10 of 11.

Greer put the Panthers up 4-2 early in the second, chasing goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who was replaced by Yaroslav Askarov.

Tkachuk, Boqvist and Reinhart promptly added goals to give the Panthers a 7-2 lead heading into the third.

The Panthers led 3-2 after the first period with Ekblad, who returned to Floridas top defensive pairing after missing eight of the last nine games, giving the Panthers the lead.

Panthers: The Panthers tied a season high with the seven goals, and responded after scoring just one goal Wednesday night in a loss to the Kings.

Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky pulled Georgiev three minutes into the second period, but any hope of a goaltending switch sparking the club from a 4-2 deficit was quickly extinguished when the Panthers scored three times the rest of the period.

The Panthers had their fourth four-goal second of the season.

The Panthers are Vegas on Sunday night.

The Sharks host Pittsburgh on Monday night.

___ AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl.

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