Vincent Trocheck and Aleksi Saarela scored second-period goals, and the Florida Panthers earned a 4-1 road victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
Aleksander Barkov and MacKenzie Weegar also scored, and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky had 35 saves as the Panthers won their second of three consecutive games in California and also improved to 2-0-0 on a key five-game road trip.
Trocheck and Weegar each added an assist.
Max Jones scored a goal, and John Gibson made 28 saves as the Ducks lost for the third time in their past four games and dropped the opener of a six-game homestand.
Florida returned from the All-Star break with a thud, losing seven of nine games (2-6-1), but is starting to turn things around at the start of the road trip. The Panthers went into the break on a six-game winning streak.
The Ducks looked ready to add to the Panthers' recent woes at 16:04 of the first period when Jones charged into the Panthers' zone, picked up a loose puck and fired it off the left shoulder of Bobrovsky and into the goal. It was Jones' eighth goal of the season.
With the first period coming to a close, the Panthers picked up the puck in the neutral zone, caught the Ducks in a line change, and got Barkov's goal off a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau as he charged the net. Barkov's 18th of the season came with five seconds remaining before the first intermission.
The Panthers grabbed control in the second period, taking advantage of the end boards behind the Ducks' goal. Trocheck was the recipient of a high rebound right in front of the goal and used a baseball swing to deliver his 10th of the season at 10:50 of the period as Florida grabbed a 2-1 lead.
The Panthers increased the advantage to 3-1 when Saarela took a rebound off the end boards in the right circle and fired from a sharp angle past Gibson. His first career goal at 14:26 of the period came in his fourth NHL game.
Weegar scored his fifth of the season into an empty net at 17:51 of the third period.
--Field Level Media
Florida | Anaheim | |
Vincent Trocheck 2 | Points | Max Jones 1 |
Vincent Trocheck 1 | Goals | Max Jones 1 |
Vincent Trocheck 1 | Assists | Max Jones 0 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Sergei Bobrovsky .972 | Save Percentage | John Gibson .903 |
Sergei Bobrovsky 35 | Saves | John Gibson 28 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Florida | 32 | 4 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 4 | 26 |
Anaheim | 36 | 1 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 4 | 26 |