Senators end Panthers winning streak at four

OTTAWA -- Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr made it clear what he expects from his teammates in their final game of the regular season on against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.
Jagr, who scored the only goal in the Panthers 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday, said the Panthers (46-26-9), who won the Atlantic Division title, can't afford to have the same kind of effort against the Hurricanes.

"It wasn't our best game, that's for sure. We just have to make sure we regroup," Jagr, who scored his 27th goal of the season to make it 2-1 early in the third period, said. "We've got one more game before the playoffs at home before our fans. We just have to make sure we play a lot better than tonight. We have to make sure we play the best hockey before going into the playoffs. Two bad games before the playoffs, I don't think it would be very smart."
Florida goaltender Al Montoya made 20 saves for the Panthers (46-26-9) who had their four-game winning streak end.

Buddy Robinson scored his first NHL goal and Craig Anderson made 33 saves for the Senators (37-35-9), who ended a two-game losing streak.
Robinson, 24, playing his second game, scored at 10:12 of the second period to give the Senators a 2-0 lead. Signed as a free agent in 2013, Robinson got his stick on a shot by Senators defenseman Cody Ceci and deflected it behind Montoya.
Center Mika Zibanejad and Ceci also scored for the Senators.
Panthers coach Gerard Gallant wasn't surprised with how his team played after clinching the Atlantic Division title.

"We took two out of three on the road and took the important games that we had to win to clinch home ice for both rounds," he said. "The Atlantic Division title is pretty good. I didn't expect the guys to be emotionally ready tonight. They didn't play their best game, but they played okay.
"I expected today not to be a great game, but I expect Saturday we'll play really well, our last fan appreciation game and a big game for us so it should be fun. At the start of the road trip, we talked about taking care of business and we accomplished what we wanted to do."
Jagr wasn't making any excuses.
"We should be motivated no matter what," he said. "We're professional hockey players. It was a key. In this League, there is a huge difference if you give 100 percent or 95. You could see it.
"We just have to make sure the next game is a lot better than tonight, no question about it."

Montoya said it's important for the Panthers' confidence going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs to bounce back with a good effort against the Hurricanes.
"You've got to be mentally there. There's no turning on that light switch come next week," he said. "For us it's about that desperation mentality and why not have that? We owe it to ourselves. This was a rough one. Let's get back at it.
"You're always playing for something. You can never be content in this League. Shame on us if it looked like it a little bit."
Jagr scored at 4:49 of the third period to make it 2-1, finishing off a pass from behind the net by Aleksander Barkov, who found Jagr at the right post. Jagr followed up on a rebound of his own shot and squeezed the puck by Anderson.

Ceci cut into the middle of the ice and scored on a wrist shot with Robinson and Chris Neil providing a screen to make it 3-1 Senators at 14:14 of the third period.
Anderson made his best save with less than two minutes left in the game when he dove back toward the goal line and got the inside of his blocker on a shot by Florida forward Rocco Grimaldi.
Zibanejad had a goal taken off the board at 1:41 of the first period when a successful coach's challenge by the Panthers revealed Zibanejad was offside on the zone entry.
Zibanejad opened the scoring at 18:20 of the first period on the power play when he jumped on a rebound and put a shot in off the post to Montoya's left for his 20th goal of the season.
Montoya made a left skate save on a shot by Senators defensemen Chris Wideman but the puck went right to Zibanejad in the right wing circle.

Senators captain Erik Karlsson got an assist on the goal, his 65th assist of the season and his 81st point.
The Senators finished the season with a 21-14-6 record at home. They had blown 3-0 leads and lost in their past two home games.
"We want to do well for ourselves, and [win the] last home game here, so it's always nice to get away with a win," Karlsson said. "I think we deserved it."
Ottawa will play its final game of the season on the road against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.
"We talked before the game about professionalism, we talked about this is our last chance to leave any kind of impression with our fans, after we've had an up and down year," Senators coach Dave Cameron said. "I thought it was a real good effort."