Tkachuk Around: Florida Panthers Keep Rolling, Beat Sharks

SUNRISE — Matthew Tkachuk continued his hot tear on Saturday night, extending his scoring streak to six games in the Panthers 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Tkachuk scored the first two goals of the game giving him five goals and 15 points in his past six games.

The Panthers, who have gone 5-0-1 in their past six games, saw Paul Maurice surpass Jacques Martin (2005-08) as the winningest coach in franchise history.

Even though Tkachuk scored just 23 seconds into the game by following up his own rebound, San Jose goalie Mackenzie Blackwood gave Florida all they could handle.

The Panthers 1-0 lead held until midway through the second when Tkachuk scored again — this time picking up a puck at the blueline, driving in and sneaking one past the hard-luck goalie off his shoulder.

Florida was outshooting San Jose 26-10 at the time — and ended up taking 53 shots with 94 shot attempts.

Sasha Barkov made it 3-0 on yet another power-play goal for the Panthers who have scored 11 with the man advantage since this point streak started with a win against Toronto on Thanksgiving Eve.

Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves in the win.

HOW THEY SCORED

• Panthers 1, Sharks 0 (0:23 1st): Sam Bennett throws up a shot from the right circle that bounces off goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. Unfortunately for him, Matthew Tkachuk was there to whack away and get his 14th point in a now-six game scoring streak.
• Panthers 2, Sharks 0 (10:05 2nd): Guess who? Tkachuk picks up a loose puck at the blue line, spins, drives to the net and gets off a forehand to backhand shot that hits Blackwood in the shoulder and bounces behind him and into the net.
• Panthers 3. Sharks 0 (13:17 2nd PP): Florida’s red-hit power play continues with Sasha Barkov one-timing a cross-ice feed from Carter Verhaeghe.
• Panthers 3, Sharks 1 (18:35 3rd PP): With Blackwood on the bench, the Sharks converted their 6-on-4 with Tyler Toffoli scoring.

FHN’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

• 1. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida
• 2. Sasha Barkov, Florida
• 3. Mackenzie Blackwood, San Jose

ON DECK: GAME 29

FLORIDA PANTHERS AT SEATTLE KRAKEN

• When: Tuesday, 10 p.m.
• Where: Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, 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
• Season Series — At Seattle: Tuesday. At Florida: Feb. 22.
• Last Season: Tied 1-1
• All-Time Regular Season Series: Seattle leads 4-2-0
• Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday at Vancouver Canucks, 10 p.m.