OTTAWA – Now these are the Florida Panthers we know and love.
Even with a few key players out of the lineup, the Panthers executed their gameplan to perfection in a 6-0 win over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.
Earning his fifth shutout of the season, Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 30 shots he faced.
“I liked the bench. I liked the way we played in the defensive zone,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “They’ve got a really active blue line. We were blocking shots at 4-0, 5-0. I liked that an awful lot. The penalty kill, clearly, really strong and great sticks. A lot of pressure on it tonight. I liked they were able to get their energy up for the game."
Improving to 48-24-5, the Panthers, who’ve already clinched their fifth straight trip to the postseason, have recorded their third season with at least 100 points in franchise history.
“It’s been a good year, but obviously that’s not our focus at all,” Panthers forward Sam Bennett said of the team’s regular-season success. “We’re not really thinking about that or where we finish. It’s all about preparing the right way for what’s to come. That’s all that we’re worried about.”
Even with it snowing outside, the Panthers got off to a hot start in Ottawa.
After Nick Cousins opened the scoring just 1:02 into the first period, Dmitry Kulikov tacked on another big goal for the Panthers with a booming slap shot just 35 seconds later to double the lead to 2-0 at 1:37.