Panthers explode for five first-period goals, with Matthew Tkachuk helping orchestrate a dominant offensive showcase against his brother's Senators.
It was a fun night in Sunrise for the Florida Panthers and their fans as the Cats continue counting down on their regular season.
Florida put on one of their best offensive performances seen by their fans in what probably felt like a while, taking down the Ottawa Senators 6-3 Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena.
The Panthers got off to a fast start thanks to a miscommunication between Senators defenseman Jordan Spence and goaltender Linus Ullmark.
Almost immediately after the game’s opening faceoff, the puck was shot into Ottawa’s zone and it bounced off the boards in the corner and came back toward the slot.
The two Senators appeared to think the other was going to play the puck, and instead it went through them and right to a cutting Noah Gregor, who one-timed the puck past the out of position Ullmark just eight seconds into the game
Less than a minute later, Mackie Samoskevich finished off a pretty passing play that saw the puck go from Sam Bennett to Matthew Tkachuk to Seth Jones before finding its way back down to Mackie for a quick goal at the side of the net.
Just 66 seconds into the game and Florida found itself with a 2-0 lead.
Florida wasn’t done there.
About midway through the period, Carter Verhaeghe picked up a Jones rebound at the side of the net and wired the puck through Ullmark to make it 3-0 Cats just 9:09 into the game.
After about a five-minute break, the Panthers got back to the offense.
Goals by Verhaeghe and A.J. Greer just 34 seconds apart gave Florida an eye-popping 5-0 lead on Ottawa with 5:24 still left on the first period clock.
As one might expect, the Senators came out after the first intermission appearing to have had a fire lit under their backsides.
After keeping Florida hemmed in their zone from the start, Drake Batherson scored right off an offensive zone draw, beating Daniil Tarasov over the glove, exactly 100 seconds into the second period.
The goal didn’t spark a Senators comeback attempt, though.
Later in the period, Matthew Tkachuk got in on the fun, taking a nice pass from Sam Bennett and beating James Reimer to make it 6-1 Florida with 7:19 left in the middle frame. It was Tkachuk’s fourth point on the evening.
Spence then decided it was time to make up for his opening-shift blunder, picking up the game’s next goal on a shot that deflected off Verhaeghe on its way past Tarasov, cutting Florida’s lead back down to four with under five minutes to go until the intermission.
Michael Amadio picked up the game’s next goal, one-timing a pass from Ridly Greig past a sliding Tarasov at the 4:29 mark of the third period to cut further into the Cats’ lead.
Ottawa spent a large chunk of the third period on the power play after Noah Gregor was handed a match penalty for a hit to the head of Carter Yakemchuk, who needed help to the locker room by a couple of his teammates.
Despite spending five straight minutes up a man, including a lengthy two-man advantage in the middle of the power play, the Senators failed to get one past Tarasov and the Panthers.
On to the Bruins.
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Photo caption: Mar 31, 2026; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) scores a goal past Ottawa Senators goaltender James Reimer (47) during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)