RECAP: Panthers 3, Senators 2

OTTAWA – That was a big one.

Earning the first win of their road trip and completing a four-point swing against a division opponent, the Florida Panthers held on for a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday night.

Improving to 23-18-3 and snapping out of a two-game skid, the Panthers now trail the Washington Capitals by just three points for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with one game in hand.

“We need ‘em,” head coach Paul Maurice said of pocketing points at this stage of the season. “The playoff push for the Florida Panthers probably started a month ago. Ottawa is in the same boat, and so is Buffalo. This is going to be scratch and claw.”

Giving the Panthers a boost, Sandis Vilmanis made his NHL debut in the win.

Over 11:48 of ice time, the 21-year-old forward recorded one takeaway and one shot.

“Just super happy,” said Vilmanis, a fifth-round draft pick (157^th overall) in 2022. “That’s the way to end it – we won. I can’t be happier for my first game as a Florida Panther."

Just after their power play had expired, the Senators opened the scoring when Fabian Zetterlund sent a puck toward that net that deflected off a defender before bouncing off Sergei Bobrovsky and fluttering into the cage to make it 1-0 at 4:03 of the first period.

Evening the score for the Panthers on the power play, Evan Rodrigues took a pass from Aaron Ekblad and beat Leevi Meriläinen with a snipe from the slot to make it 1-1 at 11:34.

Playing his first-ever game against his hometown team, Donovan Sebrango, who the Panthers claimed off waivers from the Senators in October, made his presence felt in the first period with a booming hit that took out two players at once.

Cashing in with the man advantage again in the second period, the Panthers took the lead when Carter Verhaeghe beat Meriläinen, who was blinded by a screen from Sam Bennett, with a wicked shot from the left circle to make it 2-1 at 13:13.

“They were fast out there and won us the game,” Maurice said of the power play.

After two periods, the Panthers had surrendered just 12 shots on goal.

Giving the Panthers a two-goal cushion and some breathing room early in the third period, Forsling locked, loaded and unleashed a booming slap shot from the left circle that sent the puck right over Meriläinen's glove into the far side of the twine to make it 3-1 at 3:48.

"Just trying to shoot it as hard as I can, and hopefully it goes in," Forsling said.

Soon after, Bobrovsky denied Claude Giroux on a breakaway to keep Ottawa off the board.

“I just tried to hold my ground,” said Bobrovsky, who slammed shut his five-hole on the save.

Lending their goalie a hand with some big defensive players throughout the game, the Panthers shut down another scoring chance for the Senators when Niko Mikkola laid out and poked away the puck to stifle a 2-on-1 rush near the midway point of the third period.

After pulling their goaltender to gain a 6-on-5 advantage, the Senators managed to make it a one-goal game when Drake Batherson scored to cut Florida’s lead to 3-2 with 1:42 left.

From there, the Panthers didn’t surrender another shot on goal until the final horn.

“We stayed calmed, stayed tight together,” Forsling said of locking down a big win on the road. “We got the pucks out and did a good job. Bob made some huge saves, too.”

THEY SAID IT

“You can survive moments of your game that don’t look necessarily like the way you want to play, right? We’re going to have some pucks that don’t get out, plays that don’t get in, some plays that don’t get complete. With so many big men out of our lineup, the weight isn’t really there, but the compete was tonight.” – Paul Maurice

“I just got a little more confident with every period, with every shift. I think that really helped with the debut I had. I played a lot. With every shift, I got more confident.” – Sandis Vilmanis

“It was a good game. Again, a really tight game. I thought we played fast. I thought we played strong in all zones.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

CATS STATS

- The Panthers scored a goal in all three periods.

- Carter Verhaeghe has scored two goals in his last three games.

- The Panthers didn’t allow more than seven shots in a single period.

- Niko Mikkola saw a team-high 24:27 of ice time.

- The Panthers went 2-for-4 on the power play and 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made seven high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com

WHAT’S NEXT?

The Panthers will face another tough divisional test when they visit KeyBank Center for a showdown with the red-hot Buffalo Sabres on Monday at 7 p.m. ET.

To find a place to watch in South Florida, click HERE.