Fast, Furious: Florida Panthers Avoid Elimination with Rout of Senators

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SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers could have officially been eliminated from the playoffs with a regulation loss to the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night.

Yeah, about that.

The Panthers came out on fire, getting a goal from Noah Gregor eight seconds in before scoring five in a dominant first period which led to a lopsided 6-3 win.

Matthew Tkachuk, playing against his younger brother Brady for the first time this season, had the best offensive night of his season with a goal and three assists.

Carter Verhaeghe had two goals and an assist in the onslaught. Seth Jones had three assists in the first period alone.

Florida led 5-0 after the first period, one in which they chased starter Linus Ullmark with five goals on 16 shots.

The Panthers outshot the Senators — who came into the game desperate for a win, just two points out of a playoff spot — by a whopping 18-6.

Florida held a 32-14 advantage in shot attempts.

Ottawa scored twice in the second period, but Tkachuk split the difference by scoring with 7:16 left in the period for a 6-1 lead.

The Senators made it 6-3 early in the third, but despite having a long power play late, failed to score again.

NOTES: SENATORS at PANTHERS​

• Gregor’s goal at :08 topped Johan Garpenlov (Oct. 17, 1996) and Sasha Barkov (April. 5, 2016) for the fastest goal to start a game in franchise history. Garpenlov and Barkov scored 10 seconds into their games.
• Aaron Ekblad tied Barkov for most games played in Florida Panthers history with No. 804. He was injured after taking a shot off his right hand on a penalty kill late in the third.
• Jones is the first Panthers defenseman with three assists in a game since Ekblad did it on Nov. 1, 2024 in Dallas. Jones also tied Radko Gudas and Bryan McCabe for the most assists in a period by a defenseman in Panthers history.
• The Panthers scored five times in the first, the most since they got seven in the first against Montreal on March 16, 2023.
• Tkachuk got his 10th four-point game with the Panthers and became just the second player with that many for the franchise, following Jonathan Huberdeau (15).
• Dmitry Kulikov left the game in the third period after being struck in the face with a deflected puck.
• The Panthers honored veteran linesman Brad Kovachik who worked his final NHL game on the scoreboard during the first period. Players from both teams lined up to shake Kovachik’s hand — with the officiating crew all wearing his No. 71 on their chest.

HOW THEY SCORED​

• Panthers 1, Senators 0 (0:08 1st):Noah Gregor scores the fastest goal to start a Panthers game in history, scoring off a flubbed puck by Jordan Spence right in front of Linus Ullmark.
• Panthers 2, Senators 0 (1:06 1st PP):Matthew Tkachuk sends a sharp pass to Mackie Samoskevich for his second goal in as many games.
• Panthers 3, Senators 0 (9:09 1st PP):Carter Verhaeghe gets his first of the night after finding a loose puck off a Tkachuk shot and rifling a shot across the goal-line that ricochets off Ullmark and in.
• Panthers 4, Senators 0 (14:02 1st):A.J. Greer one-times a pass from Eetu Luostarinen that gets through traffic.
• Panthers 5, Senators 0 (14:36 1st): The Panthers come in off the rush with Sam Bennett feeding Verhaeghe. That’ll do it for Ullmark.
• Panthers 5, Senators 1 (1:40 2nd): Drake Batherson gets his 30th of the season putting the Senators on the board.
• Panthers 6, Senators 1 (12:41 2nd): Tkachuk gets his fourth point of the night, charging in and taking a pass from Bennett to beat James Reimer.
• Panthers 6, Senators 2 (15:14 2nd): Spence scores with a shot from the point through traffic.
• Panthers 6, Senators 3 (4:29 3rd): Michael Amadio scores from the slot off a nice pass from Ridly Greig.

FHN’S 3 STARS​

• 1. Matthew Tkachuk, Panthers
• 2. Carter Verhaeghe, Panthers
• 3. Seth Jones, Panthers

ON DECK: GAME No. 75​

BOSTON BRUINS at FLORIDA PANTHERS​

• When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming:Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season (Panthers Lead 2-0) — At Florida:Panthers 5, Bruins 4 (Feb. 4); Thursday. At Boston: Panthers 4, Bruins 3 (Oct. 21)
• Last Season: Tied 2-2
• All-time Regular Season Series: Boston leads 66-41-7, 6 ties
• All-Time Postseason Series (Panthers Lead 2-0): Florida won 2023 First Round (4-3); Florida won 2024 ECSF (4-2).
• Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday at Pittsburgh Penguins, 5 p.m.

This article: Fast, Furious: Florida Panthers Avoid Elimination with Rout of Senators originally appeared on Florida Hockey Now.

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