Senators 4, Panthers 2
SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Ottawa Senators battled back from a two-goal deficit to beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 Tuesday night at the BB&T Center.
The Senators snapped a 2-2 tie with 42 seconds left in the second period, when a shot by defenseman Joe Corvo deflected off the knee of Ottawa center Colin Greening. The puck bounced high in the air and fell in the net behind stunned Panthers goaltender Tim Thomas.
With 12:08 left in the third period, Senators right winger Bobby Ryan scored his 14th goal to make it 4-2. He took a pass from defenseman Jared Cowen and beat Thomas five-hole on a shot that had more finesse than power.
Ottawa, which came in having lost three of its past four games, now has 26 points.
The victory perhaps came as no surprise given that Senators goalie Craig Anderson now has a 10-1-1 career record against the Panthers.
Florida, which has lost three straight, all at home, has 19 points.
The Panthers' hot start came thanks to a surprising source. Their power play, ranked 29th in the league, got on track in the first period on a five-on-three opportunity following penalties on Ottawa centers Mike Hoffman (high sticking) and Jason Spezza (goaltender interference).
Panthers center Jonathan Huberdeau got the goal, his sixth of the season. The play began with a short shovel pass from defenseman Brian Campbell to left winger Tomas Fleischman, whose slap shot left a juicy rebound for Huberdeau.
The goal ended Fleischmann's 10-game pointless streak, the longest slump he had endured since 2009.
Still one man up, Florida struck again as Campbell took a cross-ice pass from RW Scottie Upshall and roofed a shot that beat Anderson glove-side.
The Senators got back in the game with 9:02 remaining in the first period, when Corvo scored what appeared to be a soft goal from about 55 feet.
Then, with just 1:15 left in the action-packed first period, Ottawa tied the score at 2 on right winger Erik Condra's second goal of the season. Left winger Clarke MacArthur started the play with a pass behind the net to Spezza, who fed Condra in front.
NOTES: One day after saying Dmitry Kulikov is one of Florida's "most skilled" defensemen, coach Peter Horachek benched him. Kulikov, the 14th overall pick in the 2009 draft, has struggled as of late. ... C Scott Gomez was Florida's other healthy scratch. ... Healthy scratches for Ottawa were LW Matt Kassian and D Patrick Wiercioch. ... Ottawa C Mike Hoffman, recalled from Binghamton on Monday, was in the lineup. He was the second-leading scorer in the AHL with 11 goals and 15 assists. Drafted in 2009, Hoffman got just a combined total of four games in the NHL in his previous two call-ups. ... Ottawa sent LW Derek Grant and D Mark Borowiecki to Binghamton. ... Panthers' D Matt Gilroy (lower body) and D Ed Jovanovski (hip) are out. ... Panthers LW Scottie Upshall had a big November with six goals and 12 points in 14 games. ... Ottawa D Chris Phillips played his 1,000th NHL game Tuesday.
