The Florida Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators 5-3 on Saturday. In Florida’s return home, they grab a win to go 5-3-1 on the season. On the other hand, the Sens drop to .500 at 4-4-0.
Game Recap
From the get-go it was all Panthers. Despite the early dominance, the Panthers would take 7:59 to open the goal scoring. Carter Verhaeghe’s third on the year would give Florida the 1-0 lead on an elite behind the back pass from Matthew Tkachuk. Soon after, Derrick Brassard found his way into the box, giving the Cats their first power play. With the man advantage, Aleksander Barkov finally got the monkey off his back, with his first goal of the season. Later in the period, Parker Kelly and Radko Gudas would engage in a scuffle. In the first, Florida outshot Ottawa 26-4, but only led 2-0.
The second period showed a little shift in the tide. In the first 3:23 of the middle frame, the Senators evened the game at two. Shane Pinto and Brady Tkachuk were the two responsible for tying the game. However, with 37 seconds left in the period, Verhaeghe would once again take the lead, this time 3-2. The second period would end once again favoring Florida in shots.
Despite being severely outshot and outplayed, Ottawa would not give up. The Senators battled hard through the third, and were rewarded just over halfway in. Nick Holden scored to tie the game at 3-3. In a much closer period than the previous two, Florida had to fight to take the lead and they did just that. Following a scramble in front of the net, Brandon Montour tucked one away for the Panthers lead. Matthew Tkachuk added insurance at the end of the game with 14 seconds remaining and an empty net goal. With the final sound of the horn, Florida walked away with a 5-3 win.
FL Teams Player of the Game
Four players contributed three point games, but Brandon Montour stands out as the star of the game. Montour assisted both of Verhaeghe’s momentum shifting goals, while scoring the game-winner himself.
Up Next
Florida travels to Mullett Arena (ASU’s small stadium) to face the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday, November 1st. Puck drop is scheduled for 10:00 PM EST.