Panthers 2, Senators 1: Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov scored a power-play goal at 10:46 of the third period to snap a tie and lift host Florida to its fourth win in five games.
Marcel Goc also tallied and Scott Clemmensen made 40 saves for the Panthers, who defeated the Senators for just the second time in 13 meetings.
Rookie Cory Conacher scored his 10th goal and Craig Anderson stopped 15 shots in his return to the lineup for Ottawa, which fell to 0-3-0 on its seven-game road trip with its fourth straight loss overall. The Senators remained two points behind fifth-place Toronto in the Eastern Conference and two ahead of both the New York Rangers and Islanders.
Conacher gave Ottawa the lead with 7:34 remaining in the first period with his first goal since being acquired from Tampa Bay at Wednesday's trade deadline. Mika Zibanejad made a pass from behind the net to Jakob Silfverberg, who dished the puck from the slot to Conacher for an easy tap-in from the left side of the crease.
Florida pulled even just 1:08 into the second as Goc redirected Tomas Fleischmann's shot from above the left faceoff circle past Anderson from the doorstep. With Senators defenseman Sergei Gonchar serving a holding penalty, Kulikov beat Anderson with a hard wrist shot from the top of the slot to give the Panthers the lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Anderson had been sidelined since suffering an ankle injury on Feb. 21. ... Ottawa outshot Florida 25-10 over the first two periods but entered the third even on the scoreboard. ... The Panthers cashed in on their only power-play attempt, making them 7-for-14 over their last five games.
Ottawa | Florida | |
Cory Conacher 1 | Points | Marcel Goc 1 |
Cory Conacher 1 | Goals | Marcel Goc 1 |
Jakob Silfverberg 1 | Assists | Brian Campbell 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | Dmitry Kulikov 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Craig Anderson .882 | Save Percentage | Scott Clemmensen .976 |
Craig Anderson 15 | Saves | Scott Clemmensen 40 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Ottawa | 41 | 1 | 0-5 | 0-1 | 7 | 28 |
Florida | 17 | 2 | 1-1 | 5-5 | 15 | 26 |