Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers keep scoring, knock off Wild

Matthew Tkachuk scored a pair of goals, and the Florida Panthers pulled away for a 6-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday night in Saint Paul, Minn.

Aaron Ekblad had a goal and two assists for the Panthers, who won back-to-back games to complete a 3-2 road trip. Mackie Samoskevich finished with a goal and an assist.

Marco Rossi scored the lone goal for Minnesota, which lost for the fourth time in the past six games.

Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 27 shots to improve to 15-6-1.

Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury gave up six goals on 33 shots and fell to 6-2-1.

The Panthers started the scoring less than four minutes after the opening faceoff. Ekblad scored on a wrist shot through traffic for his second goal of the season.

Minnesota scored on the power play to pull even at 1-1 with 3:49 to go in the first period. Rossi netted his 12th goal on a backhand shot from the front of the crease.

The Panthers took the lead for good on Samoskevich's sixth goal with 1:46 remaining in the first period. He flew into the offensive zone and fired a rising wrist shot from the right circle.

Tkachuk scored back-to-back goals in the second period to increase Florida's lead to 4-1.

The veteran Panthers forward notched his first goal with 4:32 left in the second period. He punched in a loose puck near the front of the net and drew a flurry of angry Wild defenders after he bumped into Fleury in the crease.

Tkachuk's second of the game and 13th of the season came on the power play with 1:06 remaining in the second period. It marked his fourth multi-goal game of the season and his third in December.

Niko Mikkola put the Panthers on top 5-1 with 8:50 to go in the third period. He scored his fourth goal of the season and his second in as many games.

Eetu Luostarinen finished the scoring with his fourth goal in the final minute.

--Field Level Media