For the second straight game, the Ottawa Senators took some costly penalties and fell behind in the state of Florida by scores of 2-0 and then 3-1. They got away with it on Thursday, rallying to beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, but on Saturday night, not so much. The Senators paid dearly for their mistakes and were trounced 6-2 by the two-time Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.
The Panthers went 3-for-5 on the power play, and over two games, the Senators' penalty kill has now allowed five goals on just eight attempts.
Aaron Ekblad, Anton Lundell, and Brad Marchand led the way for Florida with a goal and an assist each. Shane Pinto had another two goal game, Sergei Bobrovsky badly outdueled Sens starter Linus Ullmark. Ottawa outshot Florida 28-27, although it certainly didn’t feel that way.
Florida opened the scoring just over six minutes into the game on a Brad Marchand breakaway. With defenders on his tail, Marchand pulled the puck to his backhand and slipped it under Ullmark’s glove as the big goalie lunged headfirst to his left.
The Panthers made it 2-0 just under four minutes later. Evan Rodrigues launched what looked like a low-danger snapshot from the top of the circle. Ullmark saw it all the way and appeared to catch it with his glove, but the puck trickled out and rolled across the line. Though the whistle had clearly blown before it crossed, the referees ruled it a goal because the puck was in continuous motion.
With under three minutes to play in the first, Shane Pinto scored his third goal in four periods, picking up a rebound at the side of the net and beating Bobrovsky. But at that point, instead of another comeback, that’s when the costly penalties started to pile up.
Near the end of the first, Ridly Greig was called for interference and early in the second, on the carryover power play, Aaron Ekblad made the Sens pay with a screened snapshot that found the top glove-side corner.
Pinto had more great chances in the second, but couldn't finish them. He was alone on Bobrovsky twice—first on a breakaway where his stick blade exploded mid-shot, and then again when he was stoned by Bobrovsky.
Late in the second, Sens captain Brady Tkachuk was clearly frustrated when Niko Mikkola continued pinning him against the boards long after the puck was gone. Tkachuk retaliated with a backhanded punch to the face—and the refs caught that part. Not only did it negate a scoring chance by Jake Sanderson, but the Panthers also scored on the ensuing power play again, effectively putting the game out of reach.
Florida continued to pour it on in the third with goals from Mackie Samoskevich and Sam Reinhart. Pinto added another in the dying minutes—his second of the game and fourth in two nights—to make the score slightly more respectable.
For the Senators, there wasn’t much in this one to be thankful for. But they’ll now return home for their season opener: a Thanksgiving Monday afternoon matchup at 1:00 p.m. against the Nashville Predators.
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