Panthers dominate in shutout win over Senators to snap three-game losing streak
The energy was palpable as the clock ticked toward the final horn and the team made its way off the ice. Two goals early in the final period provided a needed cushion. Two fights at the end of the frame kept the 16,499 energized until the end.
The blaring of Farruko’s “Pepas” from the home team dressing room afterward provided audible evidence of their reward.
The Florida Panthers celebrated.
The losing streak, a rarity for this team this season, is over.
Behind two-point nights by Mason Marchment and Patric Hornqvist and an 18-save shutout from Sergei Bobrovsky, the Panthers beat the Ottawa Senators 3-0 on Thursday at FLA Live Arena to move back into first place in the Atlantic Division.
Although the game was a lot more one-sided than the score indicated for most of the night.
Florida only led 1-0 after two periods despite a 37-10 edge in shots on goal through those first 40 minutes.
The Panthers then scored two goals in a span of 12 seconds early in the third period to build a comfortable enough lead to cruise the rest of the game.
“Tonight,” Hornqvist said, “was our best 60-minute effort in a long time.”
While the game could have been blown open much sooner if not for two periods of terrific work by Ottawa goaltender Anton Forsberg, the Panthers’ focus was getting the win by any means necessary — whether it was a one-goal win or a blowout.
The Panthers (36-13-5) came into Thursday with three consecutive home losses for the first time this season, falling to the Nashville Predators on Feb. 22, Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 24 and Edmonton Oilers on Saturday to begin this five-game homestand. In a matter of five days, Florida’s number of home losses on the season doubled.
“That’s unacceptable,” defenseman Brandon Montour said of the losing streak. “We’re a good enough team not to do that.”
And although they were facing an Ottawa team in the bottom five of the Eastern Conference, Florida wasn’t planning on overlooking their opponent.
After all, the Senators (19-29-5) beat the Panthers 8-2 in Sunrise back on Dec. 14.
“They thumped us last time,” Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette said following the team’s morning skate.
That was far from the case Thursday. The Panthers dominated possession, had a 48-18 edge in shots on goal and were aggressive both with and without the puck.
The Panthers opened scoring midway through the first period on a Marchment power-play goal, but had to wait a little more than 33 minutes and take 25 more shots on goal before adding some insurance.
Hornqvist made it 2-0 with a power-play goal on a rebound in front of the net 3:09 into the third period. Ryan Lomberg then scored his fifth goal of the season 12 seconds later with a back-handed shot in front of the net off a rebound of a Frank Vatrano shot.
“The fortitude and the resiliency for tonight was a really good test for us,” Brunette said. “It wasn’t coming easy. We had so many different looks where pucks have gone in in the past and they weren’t lately, but we stayed within the game plan and the structure we want to play. We didn’t deviate. We didn’t cheat to make it better. We stayed to the plan and it showed.”
And while he wasn’t tested often, Bobrovsky came up with three big shorthanded saves in the first period.
Ottawa’s Connor Brown forced a takeaway in the Panthers’ defensive zone on Florida’s first power play of the night and charged toward the net only for Bobrovsky to stop his breakaway wrist shot and Alex Formenton’s follow-up backhand shot. The Panthers went the length of the ice after that and put up seven shot attempts — five shots on goal, one blocked shot and one shot that sailed just wide — in a span of 20 seconds before Marchment scored Florida’s opening goal on a deflection while behind Forsberg in the crease.
Less than a minute later, with Florida having a two-man advantage, Brown had another takeaway and was one-on-one with Bobrovsky, who stopped Brown’s wrist shot to keep Florida’s one-goal lead alive.
Those were Ottawa’s first three shots on goal of the game.
“He had the toughest job in the world tonight,” Brunette said. “When you get no shots and then it’s a breakaway and another breakaway, to stay mentally focused, for me, I thought that was his greatest asset.
“He made outstanding saves,” Brunette continued. “We put him in a little bit of unpromising positions there a few times on the breakaways, but he stood up to the challenge.”
Next up
The Panthers cap this five-game homestand with a game against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.
After that, Florida plays nine of its next 10 games on the road.
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 9:46 PM.
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