Matthew Tkachuk scored a goal and added two assists, Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves and the visiting Florida Panthers blanked the Ottawa Senators 6-0 on Thursday night.
The shutout was the fifth of the season for Bobrovsky, who also shut out the Senators 5-0 on Nov. 27.
Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart and Nick Cousins each logged a goal and an assist for the Panthers (48-24-5, 101 points), who won for just the third time in 11 outings (3-7-1).
Anton Lundell and Dmitry Kulikov also found the back of the net for Florida, while Aleksander Barkov and Eetu Luostarinen had two helpers apiece.
Florida has won all three meetings against Ottawa (33-38-4, 70 points) this season, outscoring the Senators 14-2.
Senators starting goaltender Joonas Korpisalo stopped 13 of the 17 shots he faced before being replaced by Anton Forsberg in the second period. Forsberg yielded two goals on 14 shots as Ottawa lost its second game in a row.
Florida scored twice in a 35-second span during the game’s first two minutes before Ottawa registered a shot on goal.
Cousins opened the scoring at 1:02, beating Korpisalo blocker side from the slot for his sixth of the season.
Kulikov doubled the lead at 1:37, putting a slapshot from the point past a screened Korpisalo for his first of the season.
The Panthers added two goals in a 1:44 stretch of the middle period to double the lead.
Lindell made it 3-0, banking a shot off Korpisalo’s back and in from below the goal line for his 11th of the season at 2:35.
Bennett ended Korpisalo’s night by beating the Senators starter far side for his 19th of the season at 4:19 of the second. Bennett produced a goal for the third game in a row.
Florida took a 5-0 lead on Reinhart’s 53rd of the season at 17:56 of the second. The Panthers forward beat Forsberg under the blocker.
Tkachuk made it 6-0, tipping a Barkov pass past Forsberg on a power play at 3:54 of the third for his 24th of the season.
On Thursday afternoon, the Florida Panthers announced that Aaron Ekblad would miss the remainder of the regular season with an undisclosed injury. The defenseman was injured in the team’s Tuesday loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Josh Mahura took Ekblad’s spot on the blue line on Thursday, and he recorded an assist.
The two teams will meet for a fourth and final time on Tuesday in Sunrise, Fla.
–Field Level Media
