5 TAKEAWAYS: Panthers 7, Senators 2

SUNRISE, Fla. --What more could you ask for in a hockey game?
On a night highlighted by slick goals, feisty fights and a stellar performance between the pipes, the Florida Panthers put on a show for the home crowd and kept their position in the playoff race with an exhilarating 7-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at FLA Live Arena on Thursday.
With only three games left to play in the regular season, the Panthers (41-31-7) are currently in possession of the first wild card in the Eastern Conference. The New York Islanders (40-30-9) own the second wild card, while the Penguins (39-30-10) trail both teams by just one point.
"Same message," said Panthers goaltender Alex Lyon, whose heroics we'll get to in just a moment. "You just can't breathe. We've got to go to Washington tomorrow. The job's not done."
For a quick recap of the game, click
HERE
.
To read up on five key takeaways for the Cats, continue below.

1. CAN'T WAIT TO BE KING

It was about midway through the third period when the chants really started to erupt from the stands.
"Ly-on! Ly-on! Ly-on!"
"I do hear it," said Lyon, who joked that one of his talents is being able to block out noise. "I appreciate the fans. Playing in the NHL is awesome. I definitely don't take it for granted."
Turning aside 56 of 58 shots against Ottawa, Lyon not only picked up his fifth straight win, but also set the franchise record for most saves in a game that ended in regulation. Roberto Luongo owns the overall single-game record, making 57 saves during an overtime loss back in 2002.
After the game, Paul Maurice said he only wanted to talk about Lyon's performance.
"The one guy that was dialed in from start to finish right straight through, regardless of what was going on in the game, was Alex," the Panthers bench boss said. "He was good in all areas...I am happy for him because he has worked really hard to be that good. From his first tour up and then coming back in, he comes to the rink even-keeled but works very hard at his game. I am happy for him because he has earned it. It has not been easy. Good for him and good for us."
Before the Panthers exploded for five goals in the second period, Lyon was a steady hand behind them. He made 22 saves alone in the first period before going on to stop 18 in the second and then 16 in the third. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, he finished the game with 17 high-danger saves.
Over his last two starts, Lyon has stopped 35 of the 37 high-danger shots he's faced.
"Things just kind of worked out tonight," said Lyon, who's gone 8-3-1 with Florida this season "I was feeling good early. I made some good-feeling saves early, and that's just kind of a good way to set the table for the game. I've got to give a lot of credit to that team. They play so hard."
Not phased by the pressure of a playoff run after having backstopped the Chicago Wolves to a Calder Cup last season in the AHL, Lyon has posted a .961 save percentage during his five-game winning streak. Over the course of those games, he's made at least 40 saves in three separate outings.
"Nine months ago I was in the Calder Cup Playoffs," Lyon said. "That was a massive learning experience for me. I didn't know what it took to win at this time of year until I was with that team. It was an eye-opening experience, just the commitment it takes to win at this time."

2. BOILING OVER

To quote Ron Burgundy, "Boy, that escalated quickly."
After Givani Smith and Mark Kastelic tangoed less than three minutes into the contest, the penalties continued to flow freely throughout the entire 60 minutes.
But after Patrick Brown blatantly gave Lyon a face full of snow in the second period, tensions boiled over as chippiness turned into full-blown chaos. Stepping up to defend his goalie, Radko Gudas immediately went after Brown, who also received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Less than two minutes after that altercation, another incident occurred when the Senators got a little got a little too close to Lyon once again. Right after Matthew Tkachuk and Drake Batherson tussled, Brady Tkachuk sought out his own fight and ended up with a brawl against Marc Staal.
As secondary combatants, both Brady Tkachuk and Staal received game misconducts.
"The energy was amazing," said Matthew Tkachuk, who excitedly pumped up the crowd like a professional wrestler on his way to the penalty box. "It felt like another playoff game even though they're a little bit behind us. It was a do-or-die game, and the crowd brought it tonight."
With the action not stopping there, the third period featured even more brawls and misconducts. In the end, the Panthers and Senators combined for a 166 penalty minutes, which is the most combined minutes in a game since the Canucks and Maple Leafs combined for 171 in 2016.
Needless to say, fans got their money's worth.
"It wasn't the most-basic game," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said. "There were a lot of fights and a lot of stoppages. It was unbelievable by Lyon. We didn't play our best game today, but he pretty much gave us all the chances to win. We were really opportunistic."

3. A MILESTONE MACHINE

Brandon Montour is going to need to rent a storage unit for all these milestone pucks.
Already building upon the record for most points in a season by a Panthers defenseman, Montour added a few more accolades to his ever-growing collection against the Senators.
Finishing with one goal and three assists, Montour matched the franchise record for most points in a game by a defenseman with four, while also becoming the first Panthers blueliner to ever register four points in a game more than once over the course of a single campaign.

Breaking a tie with Keith Yandle (53), Montour also upped his assist total to 56, which stands as the most-ever by a defenseman in franchise history. Extending his point streak to five contests, his 71 points also mark the first time a Panthers D-man has ever crossed 70 points in a season.
Not bad for a guy whose previous career high was 37 points, right?
"Great night for him, and a great season for him," Tkachuk said of Montour, who ranks fourth in scoring among NHL defensemen in 2022-23. "He's really different than most of the players on our back end with what he can do. We're so lucky to have him. He's a gamer, too."

4. THE CAPTAIN CAPITALIZES

Long before things went off the rails, Barkov showed off his skills on special teams.
After picking a corner on the power play to put the Panthers up 2-0 in the first period, the captain padded the lead to 3-0 just 1:24 into the second period when he took a pass from Sam Reinhart while in transition and chased Leevi Merilainen from the game with a shorthanded snipe.

Climbing the record books with his shorthanded goal, Barkov tied Tom Fitzgerald -- father of his current teammate Casey Fitzgerald -- for the most such goals in franchise history with 12.
"We love playing here and we love playing in front of that crowd," Barkov said.
On a five-game point streak, Barkov ranks second on the Panthers in scoring with 75 points (22 goals, 53 assists) despite suiting up in just 65 games. Posting two goals against the Senators, he recorded the 30th multi-goal game of his career, which is just one fewer than the franchise record.
Since March 1, Barkov ranks tied for ninth in the NHL in scoring with 25 points.

5. REINHART HITS 30

When the extra attacker is on the ice, get the puck to Reinhart.
Netting his team-leading 16th goal with the man advantage, the crafty scorer extended Florida's lead to 4-1 during the second period when he tipped a shot from Montour past Mads Sogaard.

After scoring a career-high 33 goals in 2021-22, Reinhart is now up to 30 this season. In the history of the Panthers, only six players have recorded multiple seasons of at least 30 goals.
Matching the career-high 16 goals he scored on the power play last season, Reinhart has also scored 32 goals on the power play since joining the Panthers in 2021-22. Incredibly, that number is 12 more than the next-closest skater on the team's leaderboard, which is Barkov with 20.
Overall, Reinhart has scored a power-play goal in three of his past five games.
Thanks in part to Reinhart's prowess around the net, the Panthers have been on fire with the extra attacker for more than a month. Dating back to March 4, they rank fourth in the NHL on the power play with a 29.3% success rate, including going 3-for-6 against Ottawa.

BONUS: TELL ME ABOUT IT, CUZ

This whole sequence simply deserved as second look.
After the Panthers killed off a full two minutes of a 5-on-3 power play for the Senators, Nick Cousins blew the roof off the building when he jumped out of the box, collected a home-run pass from Aaron Ekblad and beat Sogaard five-hole to up the lead to 6-1 in the second period.
Of all the wild moments in the game, this might've elicited the loudest cheer from fans.