Stolarz makes 25 saves, Panthers shut out Senators

SUNRISE, Fla. — Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves for the Florida Panthers in a 2-0 win against the Ottawa Senators at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday.

Anton Lundell and Nick Cousins scored for the Panthers (49-24-6), who have shut out the Senators three times this season and won all four meetings by a combined score of 16-2.

Florida moved within three points of the Boston Bruins, who lost 4-1 to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, for first place in the Atlantic Division.

"We are playing for positioning, and you always want to be prepared," said Stolarz, who had the primary assist on Florida's opening goal. "I would like to add a goal to [my assists], but at the end of the day, the shutout is the most important thing. It is a team stat. We strive on being a good defensive team. Putting up the zero just shows how hard we will work. We may not have been our best, but we grinded through it and were able to shut them down."

Joonas Korpisalo made 28 saves for the Senators (34-40-4), who have lost four of five.

"It was a hard-fought game. There was not a lot of time or space out there," Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. "A couple of mistakes we made in the first period cost us goals. We had a couple of good chances, [Stolarz] made some nice saves. We battled hard. ... If it wasn't for the [mistakes], I thought we played a good, strong game."

Lundell gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 12:02 of the first period with a power-play goal. He took a stretch pass from Stolarz, catching Ottawa in a line change, and beat Korpisalo five-hole on a breakaway.

"The game is going towards playoff hockey," Lundell said. "We want to be ready when Game 1 starts. It's going to be pretty simple. We just got to not always try to make a play. Sometimes just try to do a little easier solution and try to get speed and play fast hockey."

Cousins made it 2-0 at 14:48, taking a drop pass from Niko Mikkola in the slot and scoring with a wrist shot.

"You have to have the belief every night to get into the playoffs," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "Using two goaltenders is almost normal now. At the end, you need the belief, and there is a lot of belief in Anthony. I thought he was really good. [Ottawa] did not generate much, but they probably generated as much as we did. It was not the most exciting game I have ever seen."

NOTE: The Panthers swept the season series against the Senators for the second time in their history (1994-95).