Closing out the scoring explosion in the second period, Sam Reinhart took a tap pass from Tkachuk, who went flying through the slot to make it happen, and fired a shot into the back of the cage to put the Panthers up 7-2 at 16:25. In the third period, the Panthers shut the door.

The Florida Panthers sure bounced back from their blown lead in Los Angeles in a big way on Saturday. Skating against the struggling San Jose Sharks, Florida was dominant for much of the night, eventually earning an impressive 7-2 victory.

Zegras returns to the lineup after missing 22 games with a knee injury, but Florida beats the Ducks for the second time in four days, 5-3, handing them their seventh loss in eight games.

Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist to lead the Florida Panthers to a road win against the Anaheim Ducks, beating them for the second time in four days.

Rookie Mackie Samoskevich has been playing quite well and may have earned himself a longer look in the top six

Sam Reinhart snapped a three-game goal drought and the Florida Panthers beat the Anaheim Ducks ... Mackie Samoskevich and Tomas Nosek each had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves.

Sam Reinhart snapped a three-game goal drought and the Florida Panthers beat the Anaheim Ducks ... Mackie Samoskevich and Tomas Nosek each had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves.

The Los Angeles Kings and the Florida Panthers face off Wednesday night ... Mackie Samoskevich and Tomas Nosek each had two assists, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves. Verhaeghe stole the puck ...

Cody Ceci and Will Smith scored for the Sharks (14-32-6), who have lost six straight and nine of ten. Alexandar Georgiev allowed four goals on 15 shots before being pulled early in the second period for Yaroslav Askarov, who stopped 14 of 17 shots in relief.

The Ducks will face the Florida Panthers again in the first home game of three before they head back on the road. The Ducks are coming off a 3-0 loss to the Panthers on Jan. 18. The Panthers have also not played since that 3-0 victory over the Ducks.

After missing each of the last seven games, top-pair defenseman Aaron Ekblad will return to the blue line for the Florida Panthers when they face-off against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday.

He’s one of those players where it’s just a matter of time until he breaks out — and he’s breaking out right now.’