OTTAWA - - Every five games Mike Condon has played for the Senators, he has posted two shutouts.

Not too bad for a backup, right?

"We have no concerns in the crease whatsoever," captain Erik Karlsson said.

Filling in for Craig Anderson, Condon stopped 24 shots in a 2-0 win over the Florida Panthers at Canadian Tire Place on Saturday. Condon, who played one period for the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier this season before being traded to Ottawa, also blanked the Vancouver Canucks in his debut with the Senators on Nov. 3.

"It comes down to team defense and guys buying in," Condon said. "That was a good example, 24 shots, not many Grade A chances against. Makes games very manageable for the goalie core here.

"The goalie is only as good as his defense, and it was very good defense tonight."

Goals by Karlsson and center Derick Brassard just 19 seconds in the first period would be all the Senators (15-8-2) would need.

Roberto Luongo stopped 19 shots for the Panthers (12-11-2).

"I thought there were stretches we were good offensively," Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle said. "Sometimes you run into a hot goalie. Sometimes you've got to tip your cap."

Karlsson opened the scoring at 6:46 of the first when he took a pass from behind the net by Ryan Dzingel and ultimately kicked the puck from his skate to stick before burying it behind Luongo.

Brassard's goal had a similar result in that he kicked the puck to his skate before putting it in, but it included a nice pass from defenseman Chris Wideman while Panthers winger Shawn Thornton was out of position trying to start a fight.

"Shawn is sticking up for a teammate and kind of got caught up in the neutral zone a little bit," Panthers coach Tom Rowe said. "We kind of lost too much ice in our end of the rink and when you leave those two guys alone, they are going to make some good things happen."

Rowe pulled Luongo for an extra attacker with three minutes left, but Condon came up big. His best and most timely save of the night, however, was off a long breakaway by Vincent Trocheck in the first minute of the second period. A goal there would have given the Panthers a huge momentum boost.

"He had a ton of time, and a guy like that, he's got a bunch of different moves," Condon said. "He kind of caught me off balance when he shot it. I just tried to squeeze my legs as tight as possible. I didn't hear a whistle either so I was kind of worried it was loose. When those situations happen, sometimes if you move you're going to actually knock it into your own net.

"So I just tried to get down as quick as possible, squeeze, and pray."

The Panthers killed off all seven shorthanded situations they faced while the Senators penalty killers went 4-for-4.

Senators coach Guy Boucher talked about the gamble he took in giving his players the day off Friday then making Saturday morning's skate an optional. He was worried that it might lead to a slow start.

"We needed to give the guys a rest, and we were definitely hoping to have more energy and that's exactly what happened," Boucher said. "You saw right off the bat our guys were skating, they were hard, they were ready. I really liked our first period."

"That's something we talked about before the game," said Brassard, before adding with a laugh: "We wanted to have a good game so we could do that more often, less practice."

The Senators begin a four-game in nine day road trip that starts in Pittsburgh on Monday and then heads to California.

"We knew how big this game was, going on that road trip," Brassard said. "We're going to face some really good teams and it's going to be a big challenge for our team."

The Panthers play the fifth of a six-game road trip in Boston on Monday. For Rowe, it will be his first game coaching in his hometown.

"We've got to get two points, I'm not even thinking about that," Rowe said. "We'll be good. We've just got to regroup. We're still working on a few things and I thought we did a lot of good stuff tonight once we got rolling. We just couldn't put the puck in the net."

NOTES: Senators D Andreas Englund played his first NHL game, with Ds Marc Methot and Fredrik Claesson sidelined by injuries. Englund, a 20-year old from Stockholm, Sweden, was Ottawa's first pick (40th overall) in the 2014 entry draft. ... Senators RW Buddy Robinson was also recalled from Binghamton of the American Hockey League. He played his fourth NHL game. ... Panthers C Kyle Rau was scratched for the fourth time this season. He had played the previous three games. ... Panthers D Dylan McIlrath was scratched for the eight time.