Giroux assists on late tying goal, Panthers defeat Senators in shootout

Aleksander Barkov scored a tying goal late in the third period and the only goal in the shootout for the Florida Panthers in a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa on Saturday.

Barkov tied it 3-3 with 2:16 remaining on a wrist shot through traffic from the point. It was Florida's third straight goal.
"We know we're going to come back," Barkov said. "We have the skill. We have the mindset that we're going to come back no matter what."
Claude Giroux had two assists, including on the tying goal, and Anthony Duclair and Patric Hornqvist scored for the Panthers (44-14-6), who have won three in a row and four of five. Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves in his first game since March 10.
Anton Forsberg made 46 saves, and Alex Formenton, Artem Zub and Dylan Gambrell scored for the Senators (23-36-6), who had won their previous two.
"Without a doubt, [Florida is] the most offensive team," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "They have a lot of guys that make plays. Barkov is at another level now. That's a really, really good hockey team. But we stayed with it long enough. ... The fans were pushing us to find another gear in how we played. It's unfortunate we didn't win."

Barkov scored on a backhand in the second round of the shootout, after Florida killed a power play in the final 1:17 of overtime.
Formenton gave the Senators a 1-0 lead on a breakaway at 7:54 of the first period. His snap shot hit the crossbar and went in off Bobrovsky's back.
Zub made it 2-0 at 15:26 by scoring on a snap shot from the right face-off circle off a rebound. It was the defenseman's first goal since Jan. 23 (fifth of the season).
Gambrell extended the lead to 3-0 at 6:47 of the second period. Tyler Ennis intercepted an attempted outlet from Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar before passing the puck for a wrist shot.
"I think we felt we were in a pretty good position with the way we were playing," Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said. "Had some unlucky bounces. Get behind by three. We knew if we could get the next one, we could gain a little momentum. We've done it all year. There is a good self-belief."

Florida outshot Ottawa 19-8 in the first.
"Against teams like this, they're putting everything to the net," Forsberg said. "They're creating a lot. You don't have any time to think about anything. You kind of just go with the flow. Obviously it's easier than just standing there for 20 minutes and not getting any shots at all."
Duclair got Florida within 3-1 on a power play at 8:55, scoring on a one-timer set up by Giroux, who has four assists in two games since arriving in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Hornqvist made it 3-2 at 9:57. He followed his rebound by chipping a shot from below the goal line off Forsberg and the right post before it bounced back toward the net. Forsberg reached back with his glove, attempting to freeze the puck against the post. After review, it was determined the puck was in his glove completely across the goal line.
"We keep grinding," Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau said. "That's the kind of team we have. I think we have a lot of comebacks this year. We know we have enough talent to score some goals."

NOTES: Huberdeau played his 655th game for Florida to pass Stephen Weiss for most in Panthers history. Huberdeau has scored 587 points (189 goals, 398 assists). ... Senators forward Drake Batherson had one assist, two shots on goal and five hits in 18:42 of ice time after missing 28 games with an ankle injury. ... Ottawa defenseman Nikita Zaitsev had three blocked shots in 20:46 of ice time after taking a puck to the face in a 5-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday. ... Bobrovsky has won five straight starts dating to March 3. He had not played since he was hit in the face by the puck while on the bench during a 3-2 shootout loss at the Los Angeles Kings on March 14. ... Florida won after trailing by three goals for the third time this season (5-4 against the Washington Capitals on Nov. 30; 7-4 against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 2). The Detroit Red Wings in 1989-90, and the Minnesota North Stars and Edmonton Oilers in 1983-84 are the teams to have had more such comebacks (four each). ... Florida traded forward Owen Tippett, a first-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft or 2025 NHL Draft, and a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft for Giroux, forward prospects Connor Bunnaman and German Rubtsov, and a fifth-round pick in the 2024 draft. It was made March 19.