TAKEAWAYS: Florida Panthers Defeat San Jose Sharks 3-1

The Florida Panthers jumped the Toronto Maple Leafs for first place in the Atlantic Division with a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks.

SUNRISE, Fla. — It took all of 23 seconds for the Florida Panthers to get the cushion they needed to defeat the San Jose Sharks 3-1.

Matthew Tkachuk batted in his own rebound on the game’s opening shift to give Florida a lead it would never relinquish.

The Panthers allowed just six shots in the first period, Tkachuk tacked on a second goal 10:05 into the second period and Sergei Bobrovsky held down the fort in his first game back from a two-game absence from paternity leave to stop 28 shots.

Aleksander Barkov tacked on a third goal for good measure with 6:43 to go in the second period, wiring home a wrist shot on the power play off of a feed from Carter Verhaeghe, and the Panthers did not relent from there.

Fabian Zetterlund spoiled Bobrovsky’s shutout bid with 1:25 to go, deflecting a Tyler Toffoli shot on the power play to draw San Jose back within two goals.

But that was the only bit of offense the Sharks could muster up.

Florida outshot San Jose 53-29, kept the pressure on and secured their fifth win in their past six games to extend their point streak. They also jumped the Toronto Maple Leafs for first in the Atlantic Division in the process.

Here are three takeaways from tonight’s win over the San Jose Sharks:

Matthew Tkachuk continues to dominate

Tkachuk has been unstoppable for the Panthers as of late.

The superstar power forward now has 15 total points on his active six-game point streak, including 11 points in the past three games. Both his goal total and point total have doubled from five to 10 and from 15 to 30 respectively since he started his point streak last Monday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

But that is not even the start of it.

He has gotten a handle on a Florida team that looked emotionless for the better half of the month of November on its stretch of six losses in its past seven straight into a six-game point streak doing what he does best: Firing the guys up and being an emotional leader.

Tkachuk did just that by leading by example on Saturday night against San Jose, girding for both of his goals at the net-front and continuing to keep the intensity level up as the game has gone on.

As the kids say, he’s been him.

Panthers put together a much cleaner effort defensively

After a game in Philadelphia marred by defensive lapses and miscues, the Panthers were nearly perfect in their own end against the Sharks.

They allowed 15 total shots in the first two periods while not leaving room for many quality chances from San Jose. They made it easy for Bobrovsky to get into the game after being away from the team for the past five days and he paid his defense back by stopping almost everything he faced.

That defensive effort was sustained by a heavy forecheck that never relented. They continued to press, get the puck in deep and grind San Jose down and they kept the game slow enough to win.

In other words, they played Panthers hockey.

Panthers clearly out of emotional lull

When the Panthers returned from their trip from Finland and eventually saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end, it became hard for them to get themselves emotionally recharged for games.

It became very apparent during their seven-game slide afterward and once they got the ship right with wins against playoff teams in Toronto and Carolina, it still proved to be a challenge to put a full effort in against teams on the outside looking in.

That was how both games in the two-game set against the Penguins and Flyers quickly turned into track meets.

At least for now, the Panthers were able to clear the emotional barrier needed to play their game against a Sharks team well outside of the Western Conference playoff race, and they dominated in the process.