Sharks defeat Panthers, spoil Tkachuk's return

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Matthew Tkachuk had his season debut spoiled by the San Jose Sharks, who scored three goals in the second period in a 4-1 win against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Monday.

The Panthers forward hadn't played this season after having surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia on Aug. 22.

“I will say, it was such a relief and nice to be out there,” said Tkachuk, who had three shots in 20:58 of ice time. “The first period was weird, just a little strange. Nothing mimics a game. The second felt better, third felt back to normal.”

Alex Nedeljkovic made 35 saves, and Will Smith, Vincent Desharnais and Mario Ferraro scored in the second for the Sharks (25-20-3), who have won five of their past seven games. Michael Misa and Igor Chernyshov each had two assists.

"We stuck with it, sacrificed a lot, and committed to playing solid defense," Nedeljkovic said. "When the time came, we got rewarded. … We’ll take it."

Eetu Luostarinen scored, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for Florida (25-20-3), which has lost two of three.

“You are worried about this game for two months,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “You have six on the road, this comes off a back-to-back. Thought we might come out sluggish, and we did. We have been fortunate to be able to come off the road and be really strong. We’re not quite there yet. It looked the way we feared it might.”

After a scoreless first period, Smith gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead 50 seconds into the second. He controlled the rebound of Timothy Liljegren's shot in front of the net, cut to his forehand, and swung it around Bobrovsky's pad.

Desharnais made it 2-0 at 2:41, scoring five-hole off the rebound of Chernyshov's wrist shot from the right circle. It was Desharnais' first goal of the season and second in 186 NHL games.

Ferraro extended the lead to 3-0 lead at 6:12, putting the rebound of Chernyshov's shot past Bobrovsky's glove after a quick touch on the puck in front from Misa.

"We’re starting to learn how we need to play," San Jose coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "We’re not going to tiptoe into a game. We have to get onto the attack, we have to push forward, and we’re a good hockey team. That was really the message, and the guys did that from the drop of the puck."

Luostarinen scored 43 seconds into the third period with a shot from the point through traffic that cut the lead to 3-1.

Barclay Goodrow scored into the empty net at 17:21 for the 4-1 final.

"We knew we had to be ready from the drop of the puck," Misa said. "We know they’re a good team, but we’re a good team, too. Good to find a win."

NOTES: The Sharks won in Florida for the first time since Dec. 1, 2017. … Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad had the primary assist on Luostarinen’s goal. It was his 400th NHL point.