Panthers fall 5-1 to playoff-hungry Senators as Florida's injury-plagued lineup struggled to keep up with Ottawa.
The Florida Panthers put up a good fight against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night, but the playoff-hungry Sens were just too much for the Cats to handle.
What ended up as a 5-1 defeat was frustrating for Florida everywhere but in the standings, where the Panthers continue to trend toward finishing in a spot that will give them a top-10 draft pick.
Ottawa got the scoring started early in the first thanks to Gus Forsling tripping penalty.
A long shot by Jake Sanderson was heading wide of the net, but the puck deflected off the legs of Drake Batherson and past Sergei Bobrovsky at the 6:49 mark.
Later in the period, Lars Eller found Fabian Zetterlund alone in the slot and he made a quick move to his forehand before sending a wrist shot past Bobrovsky’s glove.
Florida played a much better middle frame, outshooting Ottawa 8-5, but the score remained 2-0 after 40 minutes.
The Senators kept the pressure on once the third period arrived.
Similarly to their first goal, this one also came on a shot by Sanderson that missed the net.
This time, the puck bounced off the back boards and came right back out in front, allowing defenseman Artem Zub to come down from the point and blast a one-timer by the blocker of Bobrovsky.
Zub’s fifth goal of the season gave Ottawa a 3-0 lead at the 3:03 mark of the third period.
Florida finally got on the scoreboard late in the third, ending Linus Ullmark’s shutout bid.
An excellent backhand pass by A.J. Greer found Jesper Boqvist in the slot, and a hard wrist shot tricked through Ullmark with 5:43 to go.
Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice pulled Bobrovsky with 4:05 on the clock to attempt a late comeback attempt.
A giveaway in the neutral zone by Mackie Samoskevich to Claude Giroux led to the latter scoring from his side of the red line, and then 17 seconds later with Bobrovsky back in the net, Zetterlund scored his second of the game to make it 5-1 Senators.
On to Toronto for the last road game of the season.
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Photo caption: Apr 9, 2026; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) scores against Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) in the first period at the Canadian Tire Centre. (Marc DesRosiers-IMAGN Images)