For going on three seasons now, the Florida Panthers’ Gustav Forsling and Aaron Ekblad have consistently been one of the NHL’s top defense pairings. But getting to that consistently high level was a result of evolution by both players.

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.

A crucial piece on the blue line, Ekblad, despite missing time due to his injury, still leads Florida’s defensemen in both assists (18) and points (20). He also ranks third in hits (59) and blocked shots (56), while averaging a team-leading 23:32 of ice time per contest.

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.

One of each in return

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.

Ekblad was on the top pairing during the practice session, which is a good sign that he's close to a return. If he can't play Saturday, the Panthers are in action again Sunday versus the Golden Knights.

The Florida Panthers and the Los Angeles Kings are both coming off losses heading into their game on Wednesday night in Sunrise, Fla.

With the help of Fanatics, Tkachuk was able to bring some happiness to a young hockey fan and his family impacted by the devastating LA fires

The Panthers returned to South Florida on Monday after splitting their four-game, week-long road trip that ended with Sunday night’s 4-1 loss in Las Vegas. “I’ll just grind my teeth quite a bit tonight and then watch it tomorrow,” Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice said afterwards.

A lingering injury of his own could have been a factor as Calgary Flames defenceman MacKenzie Weegar failed to crack Canada’s initial roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off. Now, a nagging ailment for one of the other guys could crack that door back open.