Senators Defeat Panthers

     The Florida Panthers returned from a five-game road trip and lost to the Ottawa Senators 4-2 at BB&T Center on Tuesday night. The Panthers lost their second straight game and are winless in four of their last five home games. Roberto Luongo passed Tony Esposito for seventh all-time in NHL history among goalies as he played in his 887th game.
     It took nine minutes for Ottawa(15-8-5) to get their first shot on net in the first period. That did not phase the Panthers as Logan Shaw scored his first NHL goal at 7:49. He received a pass from Derek MacKenzie and went down the right side of the ice before he fired a slapshot from the right circle by the left glove of Craig Anderson.
     The Senators had a power play at the beginning of the second period and converted it 48 seconds into the frame on some fast passing. Mark Stone relayed a pass from the low left circle to Zack Smith in the slot area for a one-time shot.
     Florida(13-11-4) regained the lead with 6:02 left in the period. Brandon Pirri sent a long pass through the neutral zone to Vincent Trocheck at the Senators blue line. He centered it to Reilly Smith in the middle and he came in alone on a breakaway which resulted in his seventh goal of the year on a backhand shot.
     Ottawa was rewarded another power play early in the third period. They scored with the man advantage for the second time in the contest at 51 seconds. A hard pass by Bobby Ryan from the top right circle bounced off the skate of Stone and across the ice. Kyle Turris snapped in a shot from the left-circle dot for his 12th goal of the season.
     Mike Hoffman would score on an unassisted goal from the slot at 14:23 to give the Senators their first lead of the game. Jean-Sebastian Pageau added an NHL team-high seventh shorthanded goal with 2:31 remaining into an empty net.