Panthers Rocket By Senators

     The Florida Panthers blitzed the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena. The Panthers remain barely alive for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot. 

     Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad tied center Aleksander Barkov for the most games played in franchise history with 804. The Senators have not beaten the Cats in Sunrise over the past five seasons. 

     Florida(36-34-3) sprinted out to a 1-0 lead just eight seconds into the first period. Tomas Nosek won the opening faceoff in the center circle and Seth Jones dumped the puck down the ice from his own zone. It went off the end wall and toward the crease area. Former Senators player Noah Gregor put in a wrist shot from the top of the crease by Linus Ullmark for his third goal of the year. 

     The Panthers put in a power-play goal 66 seconds into the frame for a 2-0 lead. Matthew Tkachuk backhanded a pass from the right point across. Jones zipped a diagonal pass from above the left circle and Mackie Samoskevich snapped a shot from the right side of the crease for his eighth goal of the campaign. 

     It became 3-0 for the Cats at the 9:09 mark of the period. Jones blasted a slap shot from the top right circle which was saved. Tkachuk tapped the puck in the crease and Carter Verhaeghe placed in a forehand shot from the right side of the crease for his 22nd goal this season. 

     Ottawa(38-26-10) surrendered two more goals in the first period and were down 5-0. A.J. Greer scored his 14th goal this year with 5:58 remaining on a wrist shot from the low right circle. 

     Sam Bennett slid a pass through the slot area and Verhaeghe collected his second tally of the contest. It was Verhaeghe's 23rd goal of the season on a forehand shot from the left side of the crease with 5:24 left in the first.

     In the second period, the Sens got on the scoreboard to make it 5-1. Drake Batherson had a unassisted tally at 1:40 on a snap shot from the inner left circle for his 30th goal of the season. 

     The Cats regained a five-goal margin 6-1 with 7:19 to go in the second. Tkachuk tapped in a shot from the crease area past James Reimer for his 13th goal in the campaign. Bennett and Verhaeghe were credited with the assists on the play. 

     The Senators closed it to 6-2 with 4:46 left in the frame. Jordan Spence chalked up his sixth goal this season with a wrist shot from the right point past Daniil Tarasov.