Florida Panthers Feeling Good About Things Again. As They Should

Paul Maurice and the Florida Panthers were not happy with how things were going after being shutout in back-to-back games against Vancouver and Calgary.

With games coming up against Edmonton and Minnesota still to come on this western road trip, things were not looking too good in Pantherland.

Things certainly turned on a dime.

The Panthers ended this road trip with a pair of big wins — scoring twice within 30 seconds during the third period in Edmonton turned that game around — and are coming home riding a nice wave of emotion.

“If you win, you feel great,’’ Sasha Barkov said after the Panthers dismantled a Minnesota team missing a number of key players 6-1 on Wednesday night. “We wanted to finish this trip on a positive note.’’

Today’s flight back to Fort Lauderdale could have felt a lot different.

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“The excitement to go home is important,’’ said Aaron Ekblad, who scored the game’s first goal and had a three-point night.

“We know the importance of every game, but when you are one from going home, you know you need to have a strong effort so you can enjoy going home.’’

The Panthers and Wild played a pretty even first period but Florida took a 2-1 lead into the second off goals from Ekblad and Mackie Samoskevich.

The Panthers took control of the game in the second.

Despite having a Barkov goal taken off the board for a reviewed offside challenge, Matthew Tkachuk scored twice for a 4-1 lead heading into the third.

It is tough to beat the Panthers with a 3-goal lead going into the final 20.

Especially with the way they were playing on Wednesday.

Having Sergei Bobrovsky making 26 saves did not hurt, either.

Florida comes back with six of the available 10 points on this road trip with wins in Seattle, Edmonton, and St. Paul.

The Panthers had lost 5-1 to Minnesota back in October.

“You see it sometimes, that light at the end of the tunnel,” coach Paul Maurice said of ending the road trip. “When you start, you want to go 5-0. But respective of the teams and where they’re at in the standings, it’s not easy to go from Florida to the west coast. It’s never about the numbers. I like the way we rebounded. Those two losses were good because we learned from them.’’

Getting Barkov back after he missed a pair of games due to illness — even though the team was missing Sam Bennett Wednesday for the same reason — was big for the Panthers.

“The best player in the world,’’ Ekblad said. “He is incredible on a nightly basis and even if he doesn’t have his best stuff, he is still one of the best players on the ice. Really important to have him.’’

ON DECK: GAME No. 34

ST. LOUIS BLUES AT FLORIDA PANTHERS 

• When: Friday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• 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
• This Season — At Florida: Friday. At St. Louis: Feb. 6.
• Last Season: Even 1-1
• All-time Regular Season Series: St. Louis leads 27-13-1, 3 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday at Tampa Bay Lightning, 5 p.m.