"I just tried to get a little piece of it," Tkachuk said.
Injured during the middle frame while blocking a shot, captain Aleksander Barkov left the ice and did not return for the Panthers. Following the game, head coach Paul Maurice said that the injury isn't expected to be serious, with more information to come after Tuesday's practice.
"Couldn't come back," Maurice said of Barkov, who's tied for second on the team with 47 points (14 goals, 33 assists). "Probably won't skate tomorrow, but we don't think this is going to be long-term. Tomorrow I'll give you a better idea, but there's a good chance he plays next game."
Creating a nice cushion for the Panthers heading into the second intermission, Eetu Luostarinen tipped in a shot from Brandon Montour to make it 4-1 at 17:56. The longest point streak ever by a defenseman in franchise history, Montour has cracked the scoresheet in 10 straight games.
In the third period, the Panthers didn't let up.
After Staal took advantage of a miscue by Vasilevskiy and tucked in a goal to make it 5-1 at 2:53, Verhaeghe one-timed another pass from Tkachuk to make it 6-1 at 5:26. Increasing his team-leading goal total to 28, Verhaeghe has lit the lamp nine times in his last nine games.
"He has the confidence of a shooter," Maurice said of Verhaeghe. "We shot the puck well tonight. … I thought our mentality of pucks to the net at the right time was the best part of that game for us. He's a big part of that. It's on his stick, and he knows."
Putting a bow on his big game, Tkachuk added one more goal for good measure when he deftly re-directed a smooth pass from Bennett into the cage on the power play to make it 7-1 at 14:23.
Not to be lost in the midst of all those goals, Sergei Bobrovsky was outstanding in his return to the net for the Panthers. Making his first appearance since a lower-body injury knocked him out of the lineup on Jan. 19, he turned aside 32 of 33 shots against Tampa Bay's lethal attackers.
Improving to 25-22-6, Florida now sits just one point out of a playoff spot.
"It's definitely a great feeling," said Bobrovsky, who's gone 6-2-1 over his last 10 appearances. "It's a great two points for us. It's huge. I thought the guys did a great job from start to finish. We beat a really good team. It's big for us. We have to build from it."
