Florida went a perfect 6-for-6 while shorthanded on Thursday night in Ottawa

The Florida Panthers picked up a much needed win on Thursday night in Ottawa, but it wasn’t just the two points that provided that resounding warm and fuzzy feeling,

Florida looked more like themselves than they had in several weeks, playing as a five-man unit in all three zones and defending incredibly well in front of their goaltender.

The Cats also received contributions from across the lineup, which was impressive considering they were missing Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad, both of whom are not expected to play again during the regular season.

Let’s get to the feel-good, 6-0 victory takeaways:

Dedication to defending

The Panthers got back to their roots tonight, showing a clear emphasis on playing sound defensive hockey in all three zones, but particularly in their own end.

Florida was great in front of Sergei Bobrovsky, blocking 14 shots and clearing out second chance opportunities.

It wasn’t just their effort that impressed, though, it was the way the effort level didn’t change despite Florida’s growing dominance as the game progressed.

“I like the way we played in the defensive zone. They’ve got a really active blueline and we we’re blocking shots at 4-0, 5-0, 6-0. I like that an awful lot because the puck doesn't hurt less at 5-0.”

Big night for the PK

One area the Panthers did not clean up on Thursday was their recent issue with staying out of the penalty box.

Ottawa was granted six power plays, which would normally lead to some not so good things happening to a road team, but Florida persevered.

A perfect 6-for-6 night on the PK helped keep momentum in Florida’s favor and Ottawa on their heels throughout the night.

There was a clear difference in how the Panthers played when down a man.

“Pace and speed,” Maurice said of the penalty kill. “We felt we were a little passive, we’ve gotten not nearly as aggressive as we had been in the past, and we've had a run of games where we've given up a goal to kind of change the flow of the game. Sometimes it wasn't maybe the deciding goal in the game, but it changed how we felt about our game, so we got back to aggressive.”

Back to having fun

Could something have clicked with the Panthers on Thursday?

As the game progressed, and Florida continued to grind the host Senators down with their physically imposing style of play, the Panthers may have found their way back to the harmony that comes from playing very difficult hockey and it leading to genuinely fulfilling results.

“We have a certain standard. It's not an easy game to play,” said Maurice. “But if you play that game, then you should have fun. You should laugh and joke on the bench when something funny happens, and you should be very present, if you like your work ethic. It's hard to do that for 82 games, the way we play, and we had a little lull in it. You don't get to have fun when you're not competing as hard as you need to. So we had some grumpy days there.”

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