SUNRISE, Fla. _ A double-minor penalty proved to be the difference as the Sharks tried to earn a win in Florida without Erik Karlsson on Monday.
The Florida Panthers capitalized on Evander Kane's four-minute high-sticking penalty in the third period, earning a 6-2 win by scoring a pair of pivotal goals just nine seconds apart.
Keith Yandle broke a 2-2 tie just 31 seconds into the power play, slinging the puck into the top shelf with a shot from the right point. Just nine seconds later, Vincent Trocheck made it 4-2, burying a pass from Frank Vatrano after Radim Simek turned the puck over by falling on a clearing attempt. Vatrano added an insurance goal at 7:22 of the third. Nick Bjugstad scored another one in the game's final minute on a Panthers power play.
The Panthers win extended the Sharks losing streak to three games, a skid that comes on the heels of the team's season-high seven-game winning streak. Two of the losses have come in Karlsson's absence because of a lower-body injury. The Sharks decided to shut Karlsson down for the remaining two games on the schedule before the All-Star break Monday. If Karlsson decides to sit out the All-Star Game, as well, he'll get 16 full days to recover before the Sharks return to action on Feb. 2.
In addition, Marc-Edouard Vlasic missed his ninth straight game with an upper-body injury suffered on Jan. 2
The Panthers drew first blood at 17:21 of the first, capitalizing on a Justin Braun turnover in the defensive zone. Aaron Ekblad beat Martin Jones with a shot from the high slot after Braun put a pass out his own zone on the tape of Vatrano's stick, setting up a Panthers rush into the Sharks zone.
The Sharks grabbed the momentum in the second, outshooting the Panthers 14-7 to tie the game up by intermission. Logan Couture got the Sharks on the board at 4:21 of the second, tipping in a Brent Burns shot from high in the right circle.
Timo Meier broke out of his dry spell at 13:20, scoring his first goal in 18 games to earn his second point of the night. Meier scored his 19th of the year by capping off a long Sharks cycle shift by stuffing in a loose puck from the door step. Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton picked up assists on the play.
Mike Matheson netted the Panthers second goal at 17:21, scoring on a 2-on-1 play after Burns got caught pinching in the offensive zone.
Aaron Dell replaced Jones in the Sharks goal crease after the Panthers fifth goal at 7:22 of the third.
The Sharks will return to action in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, playing their final game before the All-Star break by completing a four-game road trip.
