Defenseman Aaron Ekblad had a goal and an assist in his return from an upper-body injury and the Florida Panthers routed the San Jose Sharks 7-2 on Saturday night.

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 San Jose Sharks got off to a spirited start Saturday, but it did not take long for the defending Cup champion Panthers to flex their muscles. The Panthers tied a season-high with seven goals — fou

The Panthers, who have won four of their last six, erased an early one-goal deficit with six unanswered goals to coast past the host San Jose Sharks.

Matthew Tkachuk scored once in a three-point outing while Aaron Ekblad collected one goal and one assist in his return to the lineup to pace the visiting Florida Panthers to a 7-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.

Welcome back to NHL Predictions! Today, like every day, Last Word on Hockey looks at the games happening and gives our predictions for each. We’ll also break down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play a part.

After a strong first period in which they scored two goals in less than a minute, the San Jose Sharks went south quick and hard Saturday night in a 7-2 loss to the visiting Florida Panthers.

“Just compete,” defenseman Jake Walman said Saturday after the Sharks’ 7-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, who handed San Jose its worst home loss of the season. “We’ve got guys in here ...

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.

The Cats have traveled north and will face the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Saturday night. It will be the second and final meeting between Florida and San Jose this season after the two battled down in Sunrise back in early December.

Are the San Jose Sharks getting better? That’s been the big question recently, amidst another long losing streak. On one hand, after a 7-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night, the 14-32-6 Sharks have virtually the same record after 52 games as last year’s 14-33-5 Sharks.

Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini and Yaroslav Askarov all make impact in San Jose Sharks win over Pittsburgh Penguins