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Welcome back to NHL Predictions! Today, like every day, Last Word on Hockey looks at the games happening and gives our predictions for each. We’ll also break down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play a part.

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. Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists,

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.

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.

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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.

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and two assists, and Nate Schmidt, Sam Bennett, A.J. Greer, Jesper Boqvist and Sam Reinhart also ... in a loss to the Kings. San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov ...

At the forefront of the Sharks’ rebuild is Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old center is having a Calder Trophy-type season; he leads all rookies in goals (16) and is second in points (36) in 41 games. Celebrini missed 12 games because of a lower-body injury sustained in his debut on Oct. 10.

BOTTOM LINE: The San Jose Sharks will look to break a four-game road slide when they visit the Seattle Kraken. Seattle has a 5-8-1 record in Pacific Division games and a 22-27-3 record overall. The Kraken have a 5-9-0 record when they serve more penalty minutes than their opponent.

Good news for the San Jose Sharks. Injured goaltender Vitek Vanecek has recovered and has resumed practicing. However, the goaltender is not scheduled to be in the lineup for the time being.

San Jose Sharks GM Mike Grier spoke on the state of franchise for over 45 minutes on Tuesday night. Grier shared his approach to the Mar. 7 Trade Deadline, thoughts on Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith’s seasons,