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.

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.

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.

The Panthers came up empty on their one trip to the power play, but also came up in the clutch with a pair of successful penalty kills against the Kings. Over the two trips to the man advantage for Los Angeles, the Panthers allowed just three shots on goal.

Samuel Helenius scores his first NHL goal, Adrian Kempe tips in a go-ahead goal and the Kings hold on for a 2-1 win. Darcy Kuemper stops 26 shots for the hosts, who remain desperate for more

Samuel Helenius and Adrian Kempe scored in the third period, and the Los Angeles Kings rallied to beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 on Wednesday night. Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 shots for Los Angeles, which was held to two goals or fewer for the seventh time in eight games and snapped a two-game skid.

Carter Verhaeghe had a goal and an assist to lead the Florida Panthers to a road win against the Anaheim Ducks, beating them for the second time in four days.

Verhaeghe stole the puck from Anaheim defenseman Jacob Trouba behind the Ducks' goal before putting it into the upper right corner of the net to extend the Panthers' lead to 3-1 with 1:11 remaining in the first period. Florida has scored three times in the first period four times this season which trails only Tampa Bay and Ottawa (both five).

The final NHL game on Wednesday's schedule will pit the defending champion Panthers against the Kings out on the West Coast.

Evan Rodrigues scored a power-play ... shot with 6:48 left to put the Kings ahead. Panthers: There wasn’t much gas in the tank from the start for Florida, and it eventually ran out in the ...

Advertisement Article continues below this ad Evan Rodrigues scored ... to put the Kings ahead. Panthers: There wasn’t much gas in the tank from the start for Florida, and it eventually ran ...

Samuel Helenius and Adrian Kempe scored in the third period, and the Los Angeles Kings rallied to beat the Florida Panthers 2-1 on Wednesday night. Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 shots for Los Angeles, which was held to two goals or fewer for the seventh time in eight games and snapped a two-game skid.