RECAP: Panthers 2, Ducks 1

ANAHEIM – Anthony Stolarz made 34 saves – nine of them against high-danger shots – to backstop the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Friday.

Improving to 11-5-1, the Panthers earned four of six points on their California road trip.

“He was awesome in this game,” head coach Paul Maurice said of Stolarz, who also picked up the win in the first stop of the trip in San Jose on Tuesday. “There wasn’t a whole lot going on for him, and then it was in alone, breakaway out of the penalty box. A couple high-end chances. He made big, big saves. Then it got it quiet for a long period of a time. A tough game to be as good as he was in, but man was he good."

Giving the Panthers a huge boost before the puck even dropped, Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, who’d missed the first 16 games of the season while working their way back from offseason surgery, we’re both activated from injured reserve and cleared to return to action.

Last season, the two defensemen combined for 111 points (30 goals, 81 assists).

“It was awesome,” forward Anton Lundell said. “They’re such big players for our team. They help us so much. Today felt really good to have them back. You could feel the boys were enjoying it.”

Additionally, Jonah Gadjovich, who inked a one-year deal with the Panthers in October, was recalled from a conditioning stint in the AHL and also made his season debut in Anaheim.

Getting the Panthers on the board in the first period, Eetu Luostarinen beat John Gibson from the left side of the net to make it 1-0 at 14:50. On the play, Luostarinen caught Gibson trying to cover the threat of a cross-slot feed to Lundell, leaving his side of the cage wide open to attack.

Doubling the lead, Oliver Ekman-Larsson collected a perfect cross-ice pass from Lundell and ripped a shot past Gibson’s glove from near the center of the left circle to make it 2-0 at 18:06.

“It felt like we got chances right away,” said Lundell, who has at least one point in four of his last seven games. “When we got the first goal, we got more energy and more confidence. Then it just kept rolling. We had a lot of chances. It could’ve been more goals, but today that was enough for us.”

Helping keep the Ducks at a distance, Stolarz, who spent four seasons with Anaheim before joining the Panthers on a one-year deal this past summer, kicked out his left pad to rob Ryan Strome of a would-be goal on a breakaway just a couple minutes into the second period.

Later in the period, Stolarz denied Adam Henrique on a shorthanded breakaway.

Just 57 seconds into the third period, the Panthers lost captain Aleksander Barkov after he was the victim of a knee-on-knee hit from Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe. Barkov headed to the locker room after the incident and didn’t return. LaCombe was given a two-minute penalty.

There were no immediate updates on Barkov’s status after the game.

“You don’t like to see a guy like that go down,” Ekman-Larsson said. “I thought the guys played good and stepped up. I thought Lundy and Luosty had an unbelievable game tonight, but I hope Barky’s OK.”

Cutting the deficit in half for the Ducks, Frank Vatrano pounced on a rebound in the slot and sent it past Stolarz to make it 2-1 at 7:39. Keeping the game from being tied soon after, Stolarz used every last centimeter of his 6-foot-6 frame to stop Jakob Silfverberg on a wrap-around attempt.

The situation room reviewed the save and confirmed the puck never crossed the line.

Setting an NHL record with six third-period comeback wins through their first 15 games this season, the Ducks continued to press as the clock started to wind down. Doing some heavy lifting to lock in two points, Stolarz stopped 15 shots in the third period to secure the 2-1 win.

Over the final 51 seconds, Stolarz made three key saves.

“I think Stoli kind of kept us in the game in the third,” Ekman-Larsson said. “Other than that, I thought we started pretty good in the first. Let in one in the PK in the third, and then it’s a tight game. It’s not easy coming in here after we played last night. We knew it was going to be a tough game. We got two points. That’s what’s most important.”

THEY SAID IT

“We went through five months of pretty grueling rehab to get back to this point, physical therapy. It was tough. It was a long road. It’s very sweet to get back in the lineup. It leaves a good taste in your mouth when you come back, especially when you get a win.” – Aaron Ekblad on returning to the lineup

“He was our best player, for sure. He made some big saves and kept us in the game. We need some big saves in key moments, and we got that today from him. Luckily we were able to get the win with two goals because he held us up.” – Anton Lundell on Anthony Stolarz’s performance

“Our power play was outstanding at the start of the game, so was our team. We could’ve been up five or six. We were just that good early. Barkov went down, we had a couple weak power plays, and then we were scrambling a little bit.” – Paul Maurice on the ebbs and flows of tonight’s win

CATS STATS

- The Panthers earned their 1,000^th win in franchise history.

- Brandon Montour led the Panthers with 24:02 of ice time.

- Anthony Stolarz stopped 15 of 16 shots in the third period.

- The Panthers led 13-4 in shot attempts when Jonah Gadjovich was deployed at 5-on-5.

- Florida improved to 7-0-1 when leading after two periods.

- Anton Lundell (85) collected two assists against the Ducks to overtake both Vincent Trocheck (83) and Ed Jovanovski (83) for the eighth-most points by a Panthers player before age 23.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Cats are coming home.

After winning two of three games on the road, the Panthers will open a three-game homestand with a big matchup against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.