Senators score 3 power-play goals, defeat Panthers

OTTAWA -- Brady Tkachuk had a goal and an assist for the Ottawa Senators in a 5-2 win against the Florida Panthers at Canadian Tire Centre on Monday.

Ottawa moved within five points of the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Florida remained three points behind Pittsburgh.
"Fun atmosphere tonight," said Tkachuk, the Senators captain. "The fans gave us the momentum we needed. These are crucial points coming down the stretch."
Tim Stutzle
, Alex DeBrincat and Derick Brassard scored for Ottawa (36-33-5), which was 3-for-4 on the power play. Mads Sogaard made 32 saves.
Sogaard has won two straight after losing five in a row (0-4-1).
"He's really confident," Stutzle said of Sogaard. "He goes out of the net to play pucks; he knows what he's doing out there. It looks like he's been playing for a long time. I'm really confident in him when he's back there. He looks so calm."
Gustav Forsling scored twice, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 saves for Florida (36-31-7), which has lost four straight.
"Quite frankly, I felt at 5-on-5 we absolutely dominated them for most of the game," Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "But yeah, special teams definitely played a big factor tonight, not in our favor."

Florida outshot Ottawa 28-15 at even strength but finished 0-for-4 on the power play.
"For the most part, we put together not a bad performance," Matthew Tkachuk said. "I thought we were pretty good most of the night. It was just, we got into some penalty trouble and they capitalized on their power plays, and we didn't on ours. They definitely crushed us in the whole special teams battle tonight."
Brady Tkachuk gave the Senators a 1-0 lead at 9:02 of the first period. Thomas Chabot deked Panthers forward Givani Smith at the point and sent a cross-ice pass for a one-timer.
"I thought that's as mature a game as Brady's played in a long time," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "I think he was winning inches there at the end, and that's what you have to do. This time of year, these are playoff games, essentially us versus them, and every inch matters."
Brassard made it 2-0 at 18:55 when he redirected Erik Brannstrom's one-timer of a loose puck in the slot on the power play.
"They have skilled guys on that power play," Florida forward Eetu Luostarinen said. "We took a couple of stupid penalties, including myself. We just have to stay out of the box."
Forsling's slap shot from the point beat a screened Sogaard to cut it to 2-1 at 5:58 of the second period.
"He's been so good all year," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Forsling. "Played in every game, and confidence is growing so strongly. He only just keeps getting better. He's got a great shot. We're just starting to see it, and I think you're going to see a lot more of it."
The Senators extended their lead to 3-1 at 19:22. DeBrincat finished a tic-tac-toe passing play, one-timing a no-look feed from Drake Batherson on a power play.

Forsling scored his second of the game to cut it to 3-2 at 9:15 of the third period. He one-timed a pass from Aaron Ekblad into the top right corner.
But Stutzle responded for the Senators when he one-timed a pass from Travis Hamonic on a power play to make it 4-2 at 17:37.
"To be honest, I've been playing terribly," Stutzle said. "It's definitely good [to score], but in the end, I have to be way better. … I feel like every time I get the puck I don't really move my legs enough, and they've been gapping up pretty good, their [defensemen]. To be honest, I've just got to get back to stopping and starting and trying to make plays and hold onto pucks. I've been losing too many battles."
Shane Pinto scored into an empty net for the 5-2 final at 18:30.
"I thought we played a good game today," DeBrincat said. "Capitalized on our chances. Obviously, a big two points for us. Got to keep the momentum in the next couple of games."
NOTES: Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov's point streak ended at 10 games (16 points; four goals, 12 assists). … Ottawa forward Mathieu Joseph had two shots in 12:50 of ice time in his return after missing seven games with a lower-body injury.