Ekblad injured for Panthers in win against Stars

Aaron Ekblad left the ice on a stretcher in the second period of the Florida Panthers' 4-1 win against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Sunday.

Ekblad, who scored in overtime in Florida's 4-3 victory Saturday, was
injured midway through the second period
during a power play when the defenseman landed awkwardly after his leg got tangled with Stars defenseman Esa Lindell. Ekblad immediately clutched his left knee and medical personnel stabilized his left leg before he was taken off the ice.
Florida coach Joel Quenneville said after the game Ekblad is expected to "be out for an extensive time."

Jonathan Huberdeau had two goals and an assist for the Panthers (22-9-4), who swept the two-game set. Anthony Duclair scored on a penalty shot and Chris Driedger made 33 saves.
"That was a very important win for us," Quenneville said. "You lose a guy like [Ekblad] and you know the severity of it, you see it, it's not an easy game to go through. I thought the guys stayed with it and battled. Two points for him and for us, and at the same time you lose a guy that's having one of those seasons, you have a defenseman that's controlling the play in big minutes and all situations and you lose him and you lose his leadership, it's tough. It'll be a good test for us for sure."
Jason Robertson scored for the Stars (11-13-9), and Jake Oettinger made 19 saves.
Dallas has won seven of 20 home games this season (7-6-7).
"I don't think there is anything in particular that has been a problem," forward Blake Comeau said. "Tonight, we came out flat, and other games it seems like it's our PK, and other games it seems like our power play is flat. We just have to figure out a way to be clicking on all cylinders here."
Dallas took a 1-0 lead at 4:32 of the first period when Robertson scored on the power play by deflecting a pass from Roope Hintz, who returned after he was unable to play Saturday because of an undisclosed injury.
Florida then rallied to take a 3-1 lead after the first period.
"Clearly we weren't prepared at the level they were," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "It's very simple and very obvious. We just weren't as prepared as they were."

Huberdeau tied it 1-1 at 5:03 when he stole the puck from Jamie Benn along the boards, skated to the front of the net and scored with a shot to the stick side.
Duclair gave Florida a 2-1 lead at 6:29 after being hooked from behind by Andrew Cogliano on a breakaway.
Huberdeau made it 3-1 at 13:37 with a power-play goal on a wrist shot from the right circle.
"I think I wasn't playing well, but I think the past two games I've been playing better," Huberdeau said. "I've got to take that and get confidence and play better the rest of the season. I think the team played well and that's how we're going to win some games, when everybody is playing well and playing hard."
Driedger made 13 saves in the third period, including a breakaway against Hintz.
"He was awesome," Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle said. "He's a calm goalie, he's good positionally. He's a guy that when he's called upon he brings his A game and I think for us to have obviously two goalies like that (Driedger and Sergei Bobrovsky) that you can count on to win every night is a huge advantage."
Owen Tippett scored an empty-net goal at 18:55 for the 4-1 final.
NOTES: Florida center Aleksander Barkov missed his fourth straight game because of a lower-body injury. … Duclair became the fourth Panthers player to score a game-winning goal on a penalty shot, joining
David Booth
(Oct. 30, 2010), Huberdeau (Feb. 21, 2013) and Evgenii Dadonov (Feb. 12, 2018 and Dec. 18, 2018). … With Ekblad injured, Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling played a team-high 25:34. … Robertson, a rookie forward, has scored 15 points in March (four goals, 11 assists).