RECAP: Senators 3, Panthers 1

OTTAWA – The Florida Panthers couldn’t claw back from an early deficit as they opened their road trip with a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre on Thursday.

“They played hard,” head coach Paul Maurice said of the Senators, who were energized by their Home Opener. “They were quick. They played real hard tonight. They deserved to win. I liked the way we built in the game. I thought we sawed it off after the first [period].”

In addition to losing the game, the Panthers also lost their captain to an injury.

Late in regulation, Aleksander Barkov went into the boards hard and exited the game.

"He's going to get looked at here tonight and probably tomorrow as well,” Maurice said.

Earning an early trip to the power play, the Senators opened the scoring when Tim Stutzle ripped a blistering shot past Sergei Bobrovsky from the top of the right circle to make it 1-0 at 5:52 of the first period.

Flying up the ice, Shane Pinto doubled the lead for Ottawa when he fired the puck into the far corner of the cage from the right circle to make it 2-0 at 10:42.

Getting on the board not long after a key penalty kill, the Panthers clawed into their deficit when Gustav Forsling beat Linus Ullmark with a heavy slap shot from below the blue line to make it 2-1 at 15:48.

After weathering a strong push from the Senators in the first period – one the team expected given it was the first game of the season in Ottawa – the Panthers got back to their game in the second as they allowed just two scoring chances in the period.

“We just kind of woke up in the second period and started playing our game,” defenseman Uvis Balinskis said. “We were a little bit slow in the first, but the second and third were way better.”

In the third period, the Panthers came close to finding the tying goal on more than one occasion. Not long past the midway point, an outstanding shift from the third line felt like it was going to do the trick if not for big save after big save from Ullmark.

Making his Senators debut, the former Vezina Trophy winner finished with 30 saves.

“We had a hard time trying to score our second goal,” forward Anton Lundell said. “He (Ullmark) played pretty good. We tried to challenge him, and today we didn’t get the second goal. I felt like he was good today.”

With Bobrovsky pulled in favor of the extra attacker late in regulation, the Panthers received an unfortunate gut punch. After his stick broke on a shot, Barkov raced back the other way in an attempt to deny the Senators of an empty-net goal.

Tied up in a battle with Stutzle, the two collided into the boards as the puck crossed the line to make it 3-1 at 18:15. Down on the ice for quite some time, Barkov was eventually helped to the locker room by his teammates.

An update on Barkov’s status isn’t expected to come until Friday at the earliest.

THEY SAID IT

"We'd like all the people in Florida to know we're thinking about you. It's a really difficult time. We lost a hockey game, but people have lost their homes; some people have lost their lives. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of you." – Paul Maurice

“They came out fast. They played a quick game. In the second and third [periods], we played our game and put together a solid game. The result is not there, but I think the pieces are there.” – Sergei Bobrovsky

CATS STATS

- The Panthers had 30 of their shots blocked.

- Florida surrendered just eight scoring chances over the second and third periods.

- The Panthers led 83-49 in shot attempts and 34-18 in scoring chances.

- Gustav Forsling saw a team-high 23:06 of ice time.

- Jonah Gadjovich record a team-high five hits.

- Sam Reinhart blocked a team-high three shots on goal.

- Sergei Bobrovsky made six high-danger saves, per NaturalStatTrick.com.

WHAT’S NEXT?

The road trip rolls on.

On the second stop of their four-game trek, the Panthers will drop the puck against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.

To follow the action, visit FloridaPanthers.com/HowToWatch.