Panthers ride four-goal second period to win against Senators

OTTAWA-- The Florida Panthers scored four goals in the second period of a 6-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

"We've had some good periods this year, but that second one might've been the best one we've had all year," Panthers coach Joel Quenneville said. "I thought we had good awareness, good playmaking, good patience with the puck, good speed. I thought we checked well. Obviously, scoring certainly helps, but I thought overall, we might've been doing everything you're looking to do in a period."
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Senators highlights]
Evgenii Dadonov scored twice and had an assist for Florida (21-14-5), which is 6-2-0 in its past eight games.
"We started slow a little bit, but then we picked it up," said Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who made 28 saves. "I thought we dominated the second period. And in the third period, we were solid defensively, good sticks, smart, got pucks out. It was a good game for us."
Tyler Ennis had a goal and an assist for Ottawa (16-20-5), who have lost three straight games. Craig Anderson made 25 saves.
"We didn't play our typical second period, which is fast, put pucks behind them, change on offense, get above them," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "We took a couple of penalties and they ended up scoring. And then they just had us on long changes and, I don't want to say outworked, but outsmarted us."

Dadonov scored into an open net on the power play to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 1:41 of the first period. Ennis' backhand deflected off Panthers defenseman Riley Stillman's stick to tie it 1-1 at 10:59, and Chris Tierney took a backhand pass from Anthony Duclair on a 2-on-1 and gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 15:39.
"I thought we came out really hard and had one of our best periods, I think, this year," Senators forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. "The second, I think, was totally the opposite. We came out, we didn't win battles, we stopped shooting pucks, and they were first on every puck."
Dadonov one-timed a pass from Jonathan Huberdeau on the power play to tie it 2-2 at 8:54 of the second. Noel Acciari tapped in a cross-crease pass from Vincent Trocheck 1:29 later to make it 3-2.
Frank Vatrano one-timed a pass from Dadonov on a 2-on-1 to make it 4-2 with 52 seconds left. Colton Sceviour scored the fourth goal of the period with five seconds remaining to make it 5-2.
"I think we just fell asleep," Ennis said. "I think, for the first time in a long time, we got outworked in the second period. You're not going to win games at home when you get outworked. It was the first time in a while that we got outcompeted, and that was the difference."

Eleven Panthers had at least one point in the period.
"We knew we had to battle harder after the first," Huberdeau said. "We talked a little bit in the room, and the guys showed up in the second and played well."
Connor Brown one-timed a pass from Ennis from behind the net at 17:15 of the third to make it 5-3. Huberdeau scored into an empty net at 18:14 for the 6-3 final; Riley Stillman had an assist for his first NHL point in his seventh game.

They said it

"It's been surreal. Coach has confidence in me coming up from the minors, and he's giving me an opportunity to play here, to be able to play those big minutes at the end of the game, with [Anton Stralman], especially." -- Panthers defenseman Riley Stillman
"I thought he made a couple little plays. You can see he's got some skill. It's a big jump from the American [Hockey] League to the NHL, and the pace. I thought he made a few little plays, but it'll be good for him to get a real practice in tomorrow before we play another high-paced Tampa Bay [Lightning] team." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith on forward Rudolfs Balcers' season debut

Need to know

Vatrano ended a 10-game goal drought. ... Balcers played 13:12 and was minus-1 with one shot. ... Huberdeau has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in his past eight games. ... Ottawa acquired defenseman Mike Reilly in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens for minor-league forward Andrew Sturtz and a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.

What's next

Panthers: At the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; MSG-B, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Senators: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, SUN, NHL.TV)