Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals, and the Florida Panthers cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.
Aaron Ekblad had a goal and two assists for the Panthers, who won their second straight game to wrap up a 3-2 road trip. Mackie Samoskevich added a goal and an assist.
Marco Rossi scored the only goal for Minnesota, which lost for the fourth time in the past six games.
Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky saved 26 of 27 shots, improving his record to 15-6-1. Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury allowed six goals on 33 shots and fell to 6-2-1.
The Panthers opened the scoring less than four minutes into the game. Ekblad scored with a wrist shot through traffic, his second goal of the season.
Minnesota tied the game on a power play with 3:49 left in the first period. Rossi scored his 12th goal with a backhand shot from the front of the crease.
Florida regained the lead with 1:46 left in the first period when Samoskevich scored his sixth goal. He rushed into the offensive zone and took a wrist shot from the right circle.
Tkachuk scored two goals in the second period, extending the Panthers’ lead to 4-1.
His first goal came with 4:32 remaining in the second period. He knocked in a loose puck near the net and caused a scuffle with Wild defenders after making contact with Fleury in the crease.
Tkachuk’s second goal, his 13th of the season, came on a power play with 1:06 left in the period. It was his fourth multi-goal game of the season and third in December.
Niko Mikkola added another goal for Florida, making it 5-1 with 8:50 remaining in the third period. It was his fourth goal of the season and second in as many games.
Eetu Luostarinen completed the scoring with his fourth goal in the final minute.
