RECAP: Panthers 6, Wild 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. – That’s how you end a road trip.

Led by a two-goal performance from Matthew Tkachuk, the Florida Panthers closed out their five-game trek with a 6-1 win over the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center on Wednesday.

“You see it sometimes, a little light at the end of the tunnel,” head coach Paul Maurice said of his team’s strong performance at the end of the excursion out west. “You saw it in morning skate. Give some credit to our sports science guys and their recovery program. We had a lot of hop this morning. Really pleased with the way they were able to play this game.”

Improving to 20-11-2, the Panthers finished their trip with a 3-2-0 record.

In the final two games of the trip, they scored a combined 12 goals.

"I think probably the excitement to go home,” defenseman Aaron Ekblad said of finishing the trip strong. “It's important. We realize the importance of every game. When you're one from going home, you realize you have to have a strong effort so you can enjoy going home."

Hitting the ice with a collective head full of steam, the Panthers broke the ice when Ekblad picked a corner a beat Marc-Andre Fleury to make it 1-0 at 3:48 of the first period.

Keeping the Wild in the game early, Fleury made multiple goal-saving stops soon after.

Later in the period, the Wild appeared to even the score when Kirill Kaprizov tipped in a shot. But given how Sergei Bobrovsky reacted right after, you could tell something was up. Moments before the, Wild forward Marco Rossi skated into Bobrovsky’s right shoulder.

Following a challenge by the Panthers, the goal was taken off the board due to interference.

After failing convert during 47 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play, the Wild got the job done on the ensuing 5-on-4 when Rossi roofed a backhand shot from in tight to make it 1-1 at 16:11.

Putting the Panthers back on top with an absolute snipe, rookie Mackie Samoskevich, who made his NHL debut in Minnesota last season, took a pass from Ekblad, flew into the zone and sent a sizzling shot past Fleury and into the far side of the cage to make it 2-1 at 18:14.

Nearly doubling their lead in the second period, Aleksander Barkov, who’d missed the two previous games with an illness, deposited a backhand feed from Tkachuk to make it 3-1. But after a quick challenge by the Wild, the goal was disallowed due to offside.

Not long after that, the top line made sure their next one counted.

Showing off some elite skill in transition, Barkov took a centering feed from Carter Verhaeghe and directed the puck with his skate right onto the stick of Tkachuk, who then beat Fleury with a shot from the right side of the net to make it 3-1 at 15:28.

“I feel good,” Barkov said. “Happy to be back and get the win.”

With the Panthers on the power play a little over three minutes later, Tkachuk padded the lead even further when he followed up on a shot from Verhaeghe, pounced on the rebound a sent the puck into the twine to make it 4-1 at 18:54.

Notching an assist on the play, Ekblad recorded his third point of the game.

“I feel like the way we’re playing as a team is giving me the opportunity to play well,” said Ekblad, who’s off to a great start this season at both ends of the ice. “Yeah, I’m happy.”

Finding the back of the net for the second straight game, Niko Mikkola fired a shot from just beyond the left circle that caught a piece of Fleury before fluttering into the net to make it 5-1 at 11:10 of the third period.

In just 33 games, Mikkola has already set a new single-season career high with four goals.

Known as a defensive defenseman, the big Finn has been showing a lot of flash lately.

“He does not acknowledge that label anymore,” Maurice smiled. “It’s the best because those guys don’t get a lot of those. They enjoy that more than anything else.”

Improving to 13-0-0 when leading after two periods, the Panthers dominated the third.

Shutting the door, they led 10-3 in scoring chances over the final 20 minutes.

Tacking on one more goal, Eetu Luostarinen made it 6-1 with 30 seconds left.

A brick wall behind a strong offense, Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves.

“We just know it doesn’t matter who we play against, we know what our game is, what we need to do and how we need to play,” Barkov said. “I think today was a good example of that.”

THEY SAID IT

“We love it, absolutely love it. He deserves it. He puts himself in good spots for opportunities. Pucks are finding him and they’re going in. It’s great.” – Aaron Ekblad on Niko Mikkola scoring in back-to-back games

“We know winning does that to you. If you win, you feel great. We wanted to finish this trip on a good note. The guys played really well in Edmonton. Here was a new challenge. As an organization in this building, it’s always been tough for us. It feels extra good to get a win here.” – Aleksander Barkov on finding energy at the end of a long road trip

CATS STATS

- The Panthers rank fourth in the NHL in goals by defensemen with 18.

- Matthew Tkachuk recorded his 14^th multi-goal game as a Panther.

- Aaron Ekblad registered three points in game for the 15^th time in his career.

- Aleksander Barkov went 12-for-16 (75%) in the face-off circle.

- Seventeen different Panthers recorded at least one hit.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made five high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

After almost two weeks on the road, the Panthers are coming home.

Celebrating the holidays in South Florida, they’ll host the St. Louis Blues on Friday at Amerant Bank Arena at 7 p.m. ET.

For tickets, click HERE.