Panthers' Aaron Ekblad: Pots first career shortie

Ekblad scored the Panthers' lone goal -- a second-period shorthanded tally -- among nine shots in Thursday's 2-1 shootout loss to Philadelphia.

Analysis:

He took away a pass in the neutral zone, seemed to move ghost-like right through Claude Giroux, and blasted the puck past Steve Mason. This was the first shortie of his career, which shouldn't come as a surprise, considering blueliners rarely score on the penalty kill. Ekblad has been a shot machine, as he's now cleared 200 for the first time in his career (202, to be exact -- only Brent Burns has more among defensemen), and yet he only has nine goals due to a career-low shooting percentage. We're still waiting on the big breakout year from Ekblad, but when it happens, it's going to be enormous.