Looking to get back into the win column, the Florida Panthers were squaring off against the struggling Ottawa Senators.
The Florida Panthers came storming out of the gates early on and dictated the play in the Senators’ zone, preventing them from escaping.
Their efforts were rewarded quickly as the Panthers were gifted with the first power play of the game after Tyler Ennis got caught with a high-stick on Vincent Trocheck.
The Cats had good movement on their initial power-play opportunity, creating some good chances in result. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to bury any of their chances as Anders Nilsson shut the door on all of their attempts.
Ottawa picked up their play and regained some momentum of their own after Anthony Duclair came flying into the Panthers’ end and wiring a shot off the goal post, giving the Panthers a little scare.
But it was the Panthers who would end up striking first as Noel Acciari buried a loose puck sitting in front of goal to give the home side a needed 1-0 lead.
A few sloppy shifts led to some clear-cut chances for the Ottawa Senators, but thanks to Sergei Bobrovsky – who stood tall and prevailed – the Panthers were able to escape the period with a 1-0 lead.
In the second, the Panthers wasted no time finding a second goal, this time coming from the same culprit, Noel Acciari. Picking up a loose puck sitting just behind the slot, Jonathan Huberdeau swiftly danced his way around a Senator, beautifully setting up Acciari, who was left with tapping the puck into the empty cage for his second of the night – his first career multi-goal game. The goal also marked his seventh of the season, surpassing his total from last season (6).
Shortly after, the Sens answered back through Artem Anisimov, who snapped a shot past Bobrovsky to bring his team within a goal.
The Cats returned to the power play after Tyler Ennis high-sticked Vincent Trocheck out of in front, giving the Panthers a perfect opportunity to regain their two-goal lead.
This is exactly what they did as Huberdeau found Aleksander Barkov sitting in front of goal unmarked, with the captain slotting home for his eleventh of the season.
Florida continued to press in search of a fourth. They found it through Acciari – who pounced on a juicy rebound that was given up by Nilsson – recording his first career NHL hat trick in result.
The Panthers came close to adding a couple of more after Keith Yandle fired a shot off the goal post and Vincent Trocheck was denied by Nilsson’s fast glove.
But with a couple of minutes remaining in the second, the Panthers didn’t stop at four and instead found a fifth through Mike Matheson who squeezed a shot between Nilsson’s wickets. With a helper on the goal and his fourth assist on the night, Huberdeau had reached his 400th career NHL point.
With 30 seconds remaining in the second frame, Dominic Toninato added his name to the scoresheet after redirecting Aaron Ekblad’s shot to give the Panthers a 6-1 lead heading into the dressing room after forty minutes of play.
In the third, the Cats closed the period off with their protected lead, limiting the Senators to very few scoring chances and shots. The Florida Panthers would go on to win by a score of 6-1, winning the much-needed two points in regulation.
Overall, the Panthers played a close-to-flawless game, where they controlled the tempo and dictated the majority of the game – something we haven’t seen for a while. Despite sticking the lines in a blender and mixing them up, Joel Quenneville made the right call by switching things up, which gave the Cats a nice spark on the night.
As well, forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov both got out of their slumps and back on the scoresheet with four assists and a goal for the latter.
The Panthers look to carry this win over to Friday, December. 20 @ 7 P.M. against the Dallas Stars at the BB&T Center.