Hit Snooze: Florida Panthers 5, San Jose Sharks 3

If you were already yawning before the start of Tuesday’s late start between the Panthers and host Sharks, the play on the ice in San Jose probably did not help.

That third period, though, was like a stiff shot of espresso.

Yes, after a quiet start, the two teams got things humming with Florida pulling out their fifth consecutive win, this one 5-3 over the last-place Sharks.

Florida, now 10-4-1, have Wednesday off before visiting Los Angeles for another late-night game with the Kings.

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San Jose may have lost 13 of its first 15 coming in yet took a third-period lead before Florida got two quick goals from Carter Verhaeghe and Kevin Stenlund.

It appeared the Panthers scored three times within a span of 1:41 but Sam Bennett’s shot was pulled off the board after a lengthy video review for offside.

Per the NHL, video showed the puck leave the zone.

Regardless, Florida ended up scoring three in the third to win its 10th straight over the Sharks dating to 2018.

The Panthers got goals fromRyan Lomberg, Sam Reinhart (again), Verhaeghe, Stenlund and Sasha Barkov in the win.

Anthony Stolarz continued his mastery (10-1-0) of the Sharks by making 19 saves.

Down 1-0 in the first, San Jose tied it for the first time on a goal from former Florida forward Mike Hoffman with fellow Sunrise alum Givani Smith getting the primary assist.

Florida led 2-1 in the second off Reinhart’s 12th of the season but the Sharks tied it at 2 early in the third.

At 7:21, the Sharks scored on a delayed call as Luke Kunin scored from down low.

San Jose’s first lead did not last long as Verhaeghe tied it on a pass from Matthew Tkachuk on a power play chance.

Stenlund gave Florida the lead again with a fantastic deflection of a Uvis Balinskis shot.

Stolarz did have a couple of moments where he had to be looked at by the staff.

The first was a quick look at his glove hand and later when he went down in a heap after being rolled by teammate Steven Lorentz.

Stolarz stayed in the game.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Panthers 1, Sharks 0 (12:34, 1st): Ryan Lomberg jumped on a William Eklund turnover in the offensive zone, strolled in and launched one over the blocker of Mackenzie Blackwood.
• Sharks 1, Panthers 1 (15:58, 1st): Mike Hoffman pulled in a loose puck Florida did not clear and beat Anthony Stolarz.
• Panthers 2, Sharks 1 (12:09, 2nd PP): Sam Reinhart scored his fourth goal in as many games and 12th of the season by sweeping in a rebound off a shot from Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Matthew Tkachuk got the secondary assist, giving him a seven-game scoring streak.
• Sharks 2, Panthers 2 (6:11, 3rd PP): Tomas Hertl got in front of Sasha Barkov in the slot and redirected a pass from Fabian Zetterlund to tie things up.
• Sharks 3, Panthers 2 (7:21, 3rd): On a delayed penalty, Luke Kunin knocked in a puck from down low and San Jose had its first lead of the night.
• Panthers 3, Sharks 3 (10:06, 3rd PP): Carter Verhaeghe gets his 100th goal by one-timing a Tkachuk pass from the left circle as Barkov screens Blackwood.
• Panthers 4, Sharks 3 (11:09, 3rd): Kevin Stenlund daftly deflected a point shot from Uvis Balinskis from the middle of the slot to give Florida the lead back.
• Panthers 5, Sharks 3 (17:47, 3rd EN): Barkov iced the game as San Jose pulled Blackwood and had five forwards on the ice.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

1. Sam Reinhart, Florida (goal, assist)

2. Carter Verhaeghe, Florida (goal, assist)

3. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida (2 assists)

PANTHERS ON DECK

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ LOS ANGELES KINGS

• When: Thursday, 10:30 p.m.
• Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida, ESPN+
• Radio: WAXY 790-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Last season: Los Angeles won 2-0
  
• This season: @Los Angeles, Thursday; @Florida Jan. 11
• All-time regular season series: Los Angeles leads 25-14-0, 3 ties