Huberdeau assist streak ends at 10 in Panthers win against Senators

Jonathan Huberdeau had his 10-game assist streak end for the Florida Panthers in a 3-0 win against the Ottawa Senators at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Thursday.

Huberdeau scored 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) during the streak.
Patric Hornqvist and Mason Marchment each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (36-13-5), who had lost three straight, each at home.
"Tonight was our best 60-minute effort in a long time," Hornqvist said. "We didn't give them much. The scoring chances they got were on our power plays. … Great team effort from every single one of us."

Sergei Bobrovsky made 18 saves for his second shutout of the season and 36th in the NHL.
"He had the toughest job in the world tonight," Florida coach Andrew Brunette said. "When you get no shots and then it's a breakaway and it's another breakaway, to stay mentally focused, for me, I thought that was his greatest asset."
Anton Forsberg made 45 saves for the Senators (19-29-5), who have lost three straight. Ottawa's 18 shots were its fewest this season.
"[Forsberg] was outstanding for us. He kept us in it," Senators forward Brady Tkachuk said. "It stings. It [stinks]. It's definitely frustrating, for sure."
The Panthers were 2-for-9 on the power play. The Senators were 0-for-3.
"You've got to be more ready than that to play," Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. "We knew that they were going to come out hard. The first few shifts were all right, we were hanging in there, coming with the push. And then the penalties start and it's just downhill from there."
Marchment gave Florida a 1-0 lead on the power play at 10:04 of the first period when he crashed the net and tapped in a loose puck. The Senators challenged for goalie interference, but the call on the ice was upheld by video review.
"They were just hungrier than we were," Smith said. "They beat us to all the pucks."
Ottawa was outshot 25-7 in the first, two shots shy of its record for most shots against in a period (27 in the first period against the Montreal Canadiens, Dec. 12, 2015).
"I thought the fortitude and the resiliency tonight was a really good test for us," Brunette said. "It wasn't coming easy. We had so many different looks where pucks have gone in in the past. Lately, they haven't been going in, but we stayed within the game plan, within the structure and how we wanted to play. We didn't deviate. We didn't cheat to make it better."

Hornqvist made it 2-0 on the power play at 3:09 of the third period. Twelve seconds later, Ryan Lomberg extended the lead to 3-0, tapping in a Frank Vatrano rebound.
"Their goalie obviously played a really good game," Lomberg said. "We didn't really get frustrated. We knew that if we stuck to our game plan that, you know, we were getting enough chances, so eventually they were going to fall for us."
Each of Florida's goals was scored from the crease.
"That's what it comes down to, especially heading into the time when it's needed in the playoffs," Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour said. "Those are big goals. Those are the goals we're going to need to score from here on out."
Ottawa forward Josh Norris had two shots on goal in 15:46 in his return from a shoulder injury that kept him out 15 games.
"That's a tough game to go back into for your first game," Smith said. "I mean, you're matched up with [Panthers forward Aleksander] Barkov out there; you don't get many power plays, so you don't really get to feel it. … But it's good that he got it under his belt, and he'll get better every game."
NOTES: Defenseman Lucas Carlsson was the only Panthers skater to not have a shot on goal. ... Marchment scored his first two power-play points in 66 NHL games. … The Senators had 20 shots twice this season, in a 3-2 win at the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 2 and in a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Feb. 15. … The Panthers lead the NHL with 24 home wins (24-6-0). … Florida outshot Ottawa 48-18, with Hornqvist and Sam Bennett each getting six shots.