Back On Track: Florida Panthers 5, Edmonton Oilers 1

After being shut out in their previous two games, the offensive floodgates opened up for the Florida Panthers when they played the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday night.

Florida not only snapped its two-game drought on a goal from Carter Verhaeghe 5:33 in, but scored 3 in the first and rolled to a 5-1 win.

The Panthers are 2-2-0 on this road trip which ends Monday a few hours down the Alberta Trail in Calgary.

Edmonton, which had its eight-game winning streak ended Thursday by the visiting Lightning, went back to Calvin Pickard in net.

Florida scored 4 on him in a 5-3 win last month; Saturday, they put up 5.

Verhaeghe got the party started in the first and then made it 5-1 early in the second when he came off a 3-on-2 rush, taking a pass from Matthew Tkachuk and slicing one past Pickard.

In between, Florida led 3-0 thanks to first-period goals from Brandon Montour and Sasha Barkov with Sam Bennett making it 4-1 in the second.

Sergei Bobrovsky pitched a gem on Saturday as he snapped a two-game slide by making 38 saves.

Bobrovsky also recorded his first assist since joining the Panthers in 2019 as he got things going on Bennett’s power play goal in the second.

It was the 11th assist of Bobrovsky’s career.

— The Panthers were without Aaron Ekblad due to a lower-body injury sustained Thursday in Vancouver; Josh Mahura returned for the first time since hurting a knee Nov. 16 in Los Angeles.

Anton Lundell and Jonah Gadjovich were also missing due to illness. Will Lockwood was recalled from Charlotte and stepped in Saturday.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Panthers 1, Oilers 0 (5:33, 1st): Carter Verhaeghe breaks the drought by scoring on a backdoor feed from Sam Bennett.
• Panthers 2, Oilers 0 (18:58, 1st): Brandon Montour gets his first of the season by flying into the slot and scoring off a pass from Verhaeghe.
• Panthers 3, Oilers 0 (19:27, 1st): Sasha Barkov and Sam Reinhart jab at a loose puck — with Barkov putting it through.
• Panthers 3, Oilers 1 (8:08, 2nd): Former Florida prospect Zach Hyman comes in off the rush and gets one past Sergei Bobrovsky.
• Panthers 4, Oilers 1 (16:01, 2nd PP): Bennett charges in and scores on Calvin Pickard with a backhanded sweep.
• Panthers 5, Oilers 1 (0:21, 3rd): Verhaeghe comes in off the rush, takes a pass from Matthew Tkachuk and freezes Pickard to basically put this one away.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

1. Sergei Bobrovsky (38 saves, assist), Florida

2. Carter Verhaeghe (2 goals, assist), Florida

3. Sam Bennett (goal, 2 assists), Florida

ON DECK

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ CALGARY FLAMES

• When: Monday, 9:30 p.m.
• Where: The Saddledome; Calgary, Alberta
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida; ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Series — At Calgary: Monday. At Florida: March 9.
• Last Season: Calgary Won 2-0
• All-Time Regular Season Series: Calgary leads 24-11-3, 3 ties