Sharks starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev, in a shaky performance, was pulled at the 3:01 mark of the second period after allowing four goals on 15 shots. Yaroslav Askarov came on in relief and but did not fare much better, as he allowed three goals on 16 shots.

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.

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.

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.

Skating against the struggling San Jose Sharks, Florida was dominant for much of the night, eventually earning an impressive 7-2 victory. It took less than six minutes for the Panthers to get the scoring started on Saturday against the Sharks.

BOTTOM LINE: The San Jose Sharks aim to end their five-game skid when they play the Florida Panthers. San Jose is 8-15-1 in home games and 14-31-6 overall. The Sharks have a 5-12-2 record when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent.

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.

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.

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.

Cody Ceci and Will Smith scored in the Sharks' 7-2 loss to Panthers, who got goals from seven players in handing San Jose its sixth straight loss Saturday.