Panthers Downed By Senators

     One-time Ottawa Senators captain and center Brady Tkachuk retuned to his former home as the Florida Panthers lost to the Senators 5-1 at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday night. The Panthers, who had  their three-game winning streak snapped, started a four-game road trip. The Cats are in the middle of playing six road contests in an eight-game stretch. 

     Florida(5-3-2) scored on their first shot of the contest during the man advantage at the midway point 10:00 of the first period. Seth Jones angled a pass from the top of the zone and Matthew Tkachuk pushed it from the top right circle. Brady Tkachuk put in a wrist shot from the right side of the crease past Linus Ullmark for his seventh goal of the season. It was Brady Tkachuk's seventh tally in the past four games. Jones got his 10th point in the last five games and he set a Panthers record with 11 points by a defenseman in the first 10 contests of a season.  

     Ottawa(7-3-0) tied it up 1-1 on the power play with 5:47 remaining in the first. Jake Sanderson sent a cross-ice pass from the inner left circle and Tim Stutzle fired a forehand shot from from the inner right circle by Akira Schmid for his sixth goal in 2026-27. Stephen Halliday was credited with a secondary assist on the sequence. 

     In the second period, the Sens made it 2-1 at 9:34. Nikolas Matinpalo connected a pass from the left wing and former Panthers center Claude Giroux scored on a wrist shot from the top of the zone for his second goal this year. 

     The Senators increased it to 3-1 with 2:42 remaining in the second. Sanderson sent a long lead pass from his own zone. Shane Pinto went in on a breakaway and his attempted shot from the low slot went off his own skate and into the cage for his second tally this season.

     It became 4-1 for Ottawa on a shorthanded goal at the 7:58 mark of the third period. Drake Batherson banked the puck ahead from the red line off the boards. Dylan Cozens brought it into the left circle and made a square pass to the middle. Warren Foegele ripped a forehand shot from the slot area for his first goal of the campaign. 

     The Sens expanded their lead to 5-1 with another shorthanded goal with 5:03 left in the third. Stutzle dropped a pass in the high slot and Halliday snapped a shot from the inner right circle for his third goal of the season.