Bobrovsky, Panthers hold off slumping Canucks

Aaron Ekblad had a goal and an assist for the Florida Panthers in a 4-3 win against the Vancouver Canucks at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday.

Ekblad has five points (three goals, two assists) in his past five games, and Florida has won four of its past six games after winning four of its previous 13.
"I'm feeling like we're starting to get some confidence in our game and our ability to make plays, and that's always a good sign," Ekblad said.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves, including 14 in the third period, for the Panthers (20-20-4), who played their first home game since going 2-2-0 on a four-game road trip that ended at Vegas on Thursday.
"It's a big win for us," Bobrovsky said. "It's a big two points. It's not an easy game to play coming back from the West. I thought guys did a great job."

Elias Pettersson had two assists, and Spencer Martin made 31 saves for the Canucks (17-22-3), who have lost four in a row, all on a five-game road trip that concludes at the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday.
"I'm just kind of sick of it," Vancouver forward J.T. Miller said. "We need to find a way to man up and do the job tomorrow. I'm glad we don't get that much time to think about it, playing one of the best teams, probably one of the hardest back-to-backs of the year, so we need to be ready or it's going to be ugly."
The Canucks have lost seven of their past eight.
"It's pretty difficult right now," Vancouver coach Bruce Boudreau said. "It's hard to take."
Jack Studnicka put the Canucks ahead 1-0 on the first shot of the game at 1:35 of the first period. Bobrovsky didn't appear to see the soft, high wrist shot from above the left face-off circle after a turnover in the Panthers zone.
Ryan Lomberg tied it 1-1 at 8:58, tapping in a rebound at the side of the crease after a screened point shot from Gustav Forsling.
Tyler Myers gave Vancouver a 2-1 lead 39 seconds into the second period with his first goal of the season, on a point shot past a screened Bobrovsky.
"They created good traffic," Bobrovsky said. "It was tough to find the puck."

Eric Staal tied it 2-2 at 1:46 on a double deflection, tipping the puck between Martin's legs from the edge of the crease.
Ekblad put the Panthers ahead 3-2 at 3:06 with a power-play one-timer from the left face-off circle.
Aleksander Barkov pushed the lead to 4-2 on the power play at 9:51 after Sam Reinhart collected a rebound from an Ekblad shot and made a no-look backhand pass across the ice to Barkov, who scored into an open net.
Florida's power play was 2-for-3 and has scored nine goals in the past seven games.
"It came up big," Ekblad said. "We have an attack mentality. The best power plays in the League move the puck quickly and have a high rate of pucks to the net, and that's something we've been focusing on."

Bo Horvat made it a 4-3 final at 10:02 of the third period by deflecting a point shot from Pettersson.
Vancouver was 1-for-5 on the power play, and its penalty kill, which ranked last in the NHL at 66.9 percent entering Saturday, has given up at least one goal in six of its past seven games.
"I don't know what to say," Miller said. "I'm a part of it. I demand better for myself. I know everybody takes a lot of pride in it, but it seems like no matter what we do right now it's in the back of our net."

After giving up two goals on long shots earlier, Bobrovsky made a left-pad save against Horvat on a rebound in tight at 7:51 of the third, then made difficult saves against Pettersson and Lane Pederson in the final minute.
"He had his reading glasses on tonight," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "He was really good in tight. I've never seen a guy play as well and make the saves that he made from 10 feet out [and] miss a few from deep. It doesn't matter right now, he did what he needed to do to get us the win."
NOTES: Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk had an assist on Ekblad's goal to extend his point streak to six games (10 points; five goals, five assists), a Florida high this season. … Horvat's goal was his 30th of the season, one short of his NHL career high set in 70 games last season. It was also his 200th NHL goal in 614 games. … Pettersson has eight points (one goal, seven assists) during a five-game point streak. … The Canucks are 4-14-1 against Eastern Conference teams this season.