Panthers Lose Lead, Fight Back For OT Win vs Senators

Sunrise, FL – The Florida Panthers returned home with an OT win over the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, 3-2.

After getting out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by defensemen Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour, the Panthers allowed two goals in the third period. However, center Anton Lundell took them home when he roofed a shot past Ottawa goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in overtime.

Let’s Finnish This Off

Anton Lundell has had an up-and-down year offensively. The Finland native came into Tuesday with just seven goals in 51 games. However, all he’ll think about Tuesday night is his overtime winner.

“Yeah, I mean, it must be one of the coolest moments in this building for sure,” Lundell said.

About 90 seconds into overtime, Lundell fired the puck into the roof of the net to send everyone home. He received a pass from Tkachuk at the bottom of the faceoff circle and was patient in finding the best angle as he glided towards the goal line.

“There was a play late in the third where Anton really, really backchecked hard,” Maurice said. “And it won’t get noticed. But he killed the play in the corner and then broke the thing out. And that’s why he went over in overtime because he had done something good. … as a coach you think ‘Who’s got a chance?’ and Lundy was going in the third period. So good for him.”

BOBROVSKY WENT AFTER TKACHUK 👀 pic.twitter.com/a7ZXuhpE8b

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 21, 2024

Sergei Bobrovsky Sharp Again

The Panthers goaltender continues to look like a Vezina candidate with each game. Bobrovsky allowed two goals on 32 shots, including eight high-danger scoring chances according to Natural Stat Trick.

Things got sloppy around Bobrovsky’s net, especially in the second period. Tempers began to flare when Senators forward Brady Tkachuk seemed to interfere with Bobrovsky as the Senators scored. The officials did not review the play.

A couple of minutes later, Tkachuk again found himself in Bobrovsky’s space. During a post-whistle scrum, Bobrovsky entered the fray to punch Tkachuk in the face a couple of times.

“Our goaltending has been very good,” Maurice said. “We haven’t asked them to be the difference too often. They’ve had to be as good as the other guy a bunch of nights, and that’s usually true of any kind of playoff game. But we needed him to be the guy tonight, and he was.”

Blue Line Offense

Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour each scored a goal in Tuesday’s win. The tandem of Ekblad and Montour hasn’t found the back of the net often this year. The two defensemen each have three goals this year, which is a departure from their usual offensive production that separates them from other defensemen. Montour scored the seventh-most goals among defensemen last year with 25. Ekblad’s 114 career goals are the most in Panthers history among defensemen.

“I mean obviously offensively maybe production hasn’t been there this year,” Montour said. “But I’m getting chances. I just keep working, hitting posts, big saves, and just keep going and playing hard in my own end, and eventually, it’s gonna come. It’s nice to produce. That’s a strength of mine, is helping offensively. It’s nice to get a few games together there.”

Florida gets their sixth victory in a row. Next up, the Panthers travel to Raleigh, NC to face the 31-17-5 Hurricanes.

📸Credit: JC Ruiz