Florida 4, Ottawa 1
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 19, 2016
Where: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa, Ontario
Referees:
Tom Kowal, Ian Walsh
Linesmen:
John Grandt, Tony Sericolo
Attendance:
14132
By The Sports Xchange
OTTAWA -- Jaromir Jagr was one game from being in the longest regular-season scoring drought of his 23-season career.
He didn't let that game get more than 25 seconds old before he ended the slump.
Jagr's tone-setter plus the 39-save performance by Roberto Luongo sparked the Florida Panthers to a 4-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
The third leading scorer in NHL history, Jagr had gone 13 games without finding the back of the net, something he had only done once before. His other 13-game funk was Mar. 10-April 5, 2012 when he played for the Philadelphia Flyers.
"I live by day. I don't know about future," said the 44-year old, who now has two goals on the season. "I just want to play every game I can play. Sometimes it doesn't go your way. It's hard, especially when you're old. I'm putting a lot of work in it and the results aren't there. That's the toughest thing. You keep believing. There's a lot of doubters, but you just have to close your ears and believe what got me 25 years.
"We won 4-1, but we were lucky," added Jagr. "Lou probably stopped three, four goals at least. We have to thank Lou for this win."
While wingers Jussi Jokinen, Jonathan Marchessault and center Derek MacKenzie also scored for the Panthers (9-8-1), Luongo picked up his fourth win in a row.
His stopped all 27 shots he faced in the first two periods before his shutout bid was ended by Senators center Jean-Gabriel Pageau at the 4:45 mark of the third.
"We took advantage of our opportunities tonight," said Luongo. "That's the moral of the story, I think. I don't think by any means we thought we played a great game as a team, but when we got our chances we buried them. Sometimes that's all it takes."
Craig Anderson stopped 19 shots as the Senators (10-7-1) dropped their second game in a row, a span which has seen them outscored 9-2.
"It was one of those nights where we did pretty much everything right," said Anderson. "Lou was pretty good. They got a couple of good bounces there at the start, but at the end of the day Lou outplayed me and that was the difference maker."
The Panthers lost first line center Aleksander Barkov in the third period, but offered no update on the injury. Barkov had two assists when he was forced to leave the game,
Coach Gerard Gallant bumped fourth-line center Derek MacKenzie into his spot, and MacKenzie responded with his second goal of the season, which was also his 100th career point.
"That's where he should be. It took me too long to figure that out," Gallant said with a grin of MacKenzie playing on the top line.
Talking about his team's performance, he was in no joking mood.
"Most of (Ottawa's chances), we weren't good, the defense," he said. "Too many odd-man rushes. Too many second- and third-chances around our net. Too soft. I didn't like any of our defense."
Meanwhile, the same old problems continue to haunt the Senators.
Only once in their last 12 games have they scored as many as three goals, and that was in a shootout victory.
"We won a couple of games this year that perhaps we didn't have any business winning, and in an 82-game season you're going to have games like this," said defenseman Marc Methot. "I've been through this before. I've been through game like this on multiple teams. It's just one of those nights where you run into a really hot goaltender. They got a couple of lucky bounces, but at the same time, we've got to do a better job."
Senators coach Guy Boucher said he couldn't ask for any more from his team. Boucher liked the way the power play looked, even though it went 0-for-2. And he was pleased with the discipline his team showed by not taking any penalties.
"We had 83 shots attempted against 43," said Boucher. "We've asked the players to tighten up defensively, and have less than 25 shots against. We got that. We wanted to get close to 40 shots, we got to 40 shots.
"There was 83 shots attempted. That's outstanding. Our boys are doing everything to score. If you would have given me that sheet before the game, I would have definitely taken it and be sure we win that game. But that's one of those. We need the same effort next game and keep pushing the same way."
The Senators next game is Tuesday in Montreal. The Panthers concluded a four-game road trip Sunday in New York against the Rangers.
NOTES: Senators G Andrew Hammond was placed on waivers Saturday morning ... Senators RW Curtis Lazar was recalled from Binghamton earlier in the day and played his first game of the season for Ottawa. The former first-rounder has suited up for 133 games the previous two seasons ... Senators RW Bobby Ryan missed his first game with a deep bone bruise on his finger. Ryan is expected to be lost for at least a week ... Senators LW Mike Hoffman missed his second game with a groin injury. Hoffman skated well at the morning warmup and should be back before long ... Panthers D Dylan McIlrath was scratched the game after making his debut with the team, and playing 17:18 against the Maple Leafs. It's believed McIlrath is suffering from the flu ... Panthers C Greg McKegg was scratched for the first time this season ... Panthers C Kyle Rau was scratched for the third time this season.
Top Game Performances
Florida |
|
Ottawa |
Jaromir Jagr 3 |
Points |
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 1 |
Jaromir Jagr 1 |
Goals |
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 1 |
Jaromir Jagr 2 |
Assists |
Ryan Dzingel 1 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
Roberto Luongo .975 |
Save Percentage |
Craig Anderson .826 |
Roberto Luongo 39 |
Saves |
Craig Anderson 19 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Florida
|
23 |
4 |
0-0 |
2-2 |
4 |
25 |
Ottawa
|
40 |
1 |
0-2 |
0-0 |
0 |
36 |
Upcoming Games
-
Ottawa will play their next game on the road against Montreal. The Senators have a W/L % of .400 after a win and .750 after a loss.
-
Florida will play their next game on the road against NY Rangers. The Panthers have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .667 after a loss.