Senators Beat Panthers 5-2, Keep Playoff Hopes Alive

The Ottawa Senators were able to take down the Florida Panthers 5-2 at home on Monday night, keeping their faint playoff hopes alive. The Sens’ NHL regular season record was improved to 36-33-5, giving them sixth in the Atlantic Division, chasing the Panthers, Sabres, Islanders and Penguins for the two Wild Card spots in the East.

The story of the night was the battle between the Tkachuk brothers, of which Brady was able to come out on top with a goal and an assist to his name. Erik Brannstrom, Alex DeBrincat, Tim Stutzle and Shane Pinto also scored goals for the Senators, while Mads Sogaard made 32 saves for the win.

The Panthers have now lost four games a row, with the only bright spot coming from the two goals from Gustav Forsling. Florida is still only 3 pts out of a Wild Card spot however, behind the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Coming into the game without pretty much no room for error, the Sens got off to a hot start, opening up a 2-0 lead in the first period. Tkachuk opened the scoring through a nice setup from Thomas Chabot just nine minutes into the game. Later, with just over a minute to play in the first, Brannstrom jostled for a loose puck in front of the net, beat Bobrovsky with a lightning quick shot on the power play.

The Panthers were able to pull one back six minutes into the second period, as Forsling was able to beat Sogaard from the point. The lead was reapplied shortly after however with DeBrincat’s finish off a three-way passing play with less than a minute left in the frame.

Forsling scored his second of the game midway through the third period to get the game within a goal again but Stutzle scored at 17:37 and Pinto sank an empty netter to seal the deal late.

Who’s Next for the Senators?

The Senators will be wrapping up their three-game homestand with a Thursday night against the Philadelphia Flyers and then a Saturday game with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Flyers have been out of the playoff race for a while now but have been able to put up three wins a row.

If the Senators are to have any hope of swooping in and stealing a Wild Card spot, they will need to win almost all of their home games going forward.

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