RECAP: Senators 4, Panthers 2 (Preseason)

SYDNEY, Nova Scotia – In a special “Kraft Hockeyville” preseason matchup, Drake Batherson posted four points to lift the Senators to a 4-2 win over the Panthers at Centre 200 on Sunday.

For the Panthers, Anton Lundell led the way with two goals.

“It was fun, coming all the way here to Sydney, Nova Scotia,” Lundell said of the experience. “It’s a lot of travel, but it was worth it. We had a lot of fans. It was awesome to play [here]. It brought me back memories from playing in Finland. It’s a smaller rink, but the atmosphere was great.”

In addition to game, the local community received $250,000 in arena upgrades. 

One of a handful of veterans that made the trip for the Panthers, Lundell opened the scoring against the Senators when he kept the puck on a 2-on-1 rush with Uvis Balinskis and roofed a wicked shot right over the blocker of Anton Forsberg to make it 1-0 at 8:18 of the first period.

Leading the Panthers with six points in four preseason games, rookie Mackie Samoskevich, a first-round pick in 2021 gearing up for his first pro season, tallied the primary assist on the goal.

Getting the Senators on the board, Drake Batherson threaded a cross-ice pass to Jiri Smejkal, who then quickly fired the puck past Spencer Knight and into the far right corner of the net with a wicked shot from the top of the left circle to even things up and make it 1-1 at 14:22.

Just 11 seconds after the puck had dropped in the second period, the Senators jumped ahead when Batherson set up Roby Jarventie for a goal from the slot to make it 2-1. That would be the only goal of the period despite a couple quality looks from the Panthers over three power plays.

A shining star throughout the entire game, Lundell pulled the Panthers back even in the third period when he took a pass from Nick Cousins, made a move to get into the slot and – using a Senators defender as his personal screen – fired a shot past Forsberg to make it 2-2 at 10:10.

Knight made 27 saves; Forsberg made 33.

After the Senators were sent to a late power play, Batherson, who amassed a career-high 40 helpers in 2022-23, picked up his third assist of the game when he made a slick pass into the slot onto the stick of Parker Kelly, who then buried the go-ahead goal to make it 3-2 at 16:49.

Capping off his big game, Batherson put Ottawa up 4-2 with an empty-net goal at 18:32.

With only three preseason games left before Opening Night on Oct. 12 at Minnesota, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said the team’s training camp roster will soon shrink from 48 players to 28 as they really start to hammer things out heading into the upcoming 2023-24 campaign.

“Everybody knows a big cut’s coming,” Maurice said following this morning’s skate. “We’re going to get down to one manageable group. Most of these guys have played in the last two exhibition games. This is their last chance to fight their way into the 28 [spots].”

CATS QUOTES

“It means a lot. It’s all about the kids. It’s about young guys and girls that love to play and love hockey. We want to be idols and show the way. I had some guys that I was looking up to growing up. I hope I can be someone to look up to for some young boy or girl in the world.” – Lundell on the importance of Kraft Hockeyville

“It’s nostalgic. The majority of these guys, I would think, are small-town guys. A town like this is where they grew up, where they played hockey, where their family memories are.” – Maurice on how it feels to be a part of Kraft Hockeyville

WHAT’S NEXT?

We’re almost to the finish line.

In the first of three straight games against their cross-state rival to close out the preseason, the Cats will battle the Lightning in a neutral-site game at Amway Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.