Forsling, Verhaeghe each has 2 points, Panthers edge Senators

Gustav Forsling and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist, and the Florida Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Saturday.

Evan Rodrigues also scored for the Panthers (23-18-3) who had lost two straight games and four of their past five. Aaron Ekblad had two assists and Sergei Bobrovsky made 17 saves for his first win since beating the Washington Capitals 5-3 on Dec. 29.

“Good game, really tight game,” Bobrovsky said. “I thought we played fast, a strong game in all zones. We were smart defensively and offensively. It was huge. Every game is big, especially against a divisional opponent. Big win, big points for us, and we’re excited to move on.”

Fabian Zetterlund and Drake Batherson scored for Ottawa (20-19-5), which has lost four straight. Leevi Merilainen made 18 saves.

“We can play better for 60 minutes,’’ said Senators forward Claude Giroux, who assisted on Batherson’s goal late in the third period and was stopped by Bobrovsky earlier in the period on a breakaway.

“Right now, we’re in a tough position and the only way to get out of this is by working and to stay together. I know a lot of guys care in this locker room, and we’re going to get out of this. … We did a lot of good things, but it’s a good league. To win in this league, you have to play better.”

Ottawa got an early power play and opened the scoring a second after it ended at 4:03 of the first period. Zetterlund scored to make it 1-0 on a sharp-angled shot from near the goal line, the puck hitting the stick of Forsling and riding over the shoulder of Bobrovsky.

“The first goal? Sergei is not going to like that one,’’ Florida coach Paul Maurice said. “But you have seen him do that so many times where if a bad one goes in on him early, he just somehow raises his level. I thought we fought hard.’’

Rodrigues made it 1-1 at 11:34 of the first, getting a cross-ice pass from Ekblad and sending a wrist shot over the blocker from the slot on the power play.

The Panthers took a 2-1 lead on the power play at 13:13 of the second period when Forsling found Verhaeghe in the left circle and he went bar-down with a wrist shot.

Forsling scored his second goal of the season for a 3-1 lead at 3:48 of the third period, walking into the left circle off a pass from Ekblad and scoring on a slap shot.

“We stayed calm, got the pucks out. I thought we did a good job,” Forsling said. “[Bobrovsky] made some huge saves. He keeps us in games, has been so good for us throughout the season especially today when we needed it the most. It’s nice to come with a lead and play with some composure at the end. Big win.”

With Merilainen on the bench for an extra attacker, Batherson pulled the Senators within 3-2 with 1:42 remaining by deflecting a shot from Giroux at the left post.

The Senators came no closer.

“It was a tight game both ways, not a lot going on,” Ottawa coach Travis Green said. “Offensively, we had to fight for space; they had to fight for space. Came up on the short end of the stick. I thought we lacked a little bit of desperation. Just a bit. … They are a hard team to play against, don’t get me wrong. A lot of teams mimic how that team plays. They have it down pat. They played a good road game and we didn’t play terrible. We just didn’t quite get it done.”

Florida’s penalty kill held Ottawa scoreless on five attempts with the advantage, limiting the Senators to four shots on goal.

“Over the past three years, it’s probably the best part of our game,’’ Maurice said of the penalty kill. “We live and die with it.’’

NOTES: The Panthers played their second straight game without forward Brad Marchand due to an undisclosed injury. … Forward Sandis Vilmanis made his NHL debut for the Panthers, playing 11:48 on 14 shifts. … Verhaeghe has 151 goals since joining the Panthers as a free agent following the 2019-20 season. He is one away from tying Hall of Famer Pavel Bure for sixth-most in franchise history. … Ekblad is two points away from becoming the fourth player in franchise history with 400 career points. Aleksander Barkov leads all Florida players with 782.