Brady Tkachuk had a goal and an assist, Mads Sogaard made 32 saves and the Ottawa Senators scored three power-play goals in a 5-2 win over the visiting Florida Panthers on Monday.
The win moved the Senators (36-33-5, 77 points) closer in their pursuit of an Eastern Conference wild-card position. The Pittsburgh Penguins, who were idle on Monday, are in the second wild-card slot with 82 points, while the Panthers (36-31-7, 79 points) are just behind them.
Florida is on a four-game winless drought (0-4-0), its longest losing streak of the season.
Ottawa’s Alex DeBrincat, Tim Stutzle and Erik Brannstrom all scored on the power play, with each score coming near the end of each period. After its 3-for-4 performance on Monday, the Senators’ streaking power-play unit is 10-for-28 over the past eight games.
Shane Pinto scored an empty-netter for Ottawa’s other goal.
Sogaard stopped 32 of 34 shots for his seventh win in 15 games this season. The goalie’s impressive outing was highlighted by a sprawling pad save on Anton Lundell midway through the second period.
The Senators are 3-2-0 in their past five games.
Gustav Forsling scored both of the Panthers’ goals, both on long-range shots through traffic that fooled Sogaard. The defenseman has a career-high 12 goals this season.
The Panthers outshot the Senators by a 34-27 margin but were hampered by both Sogaard and a lack of production on special teams. Beyond the tough night on the penalty kill, Florida was 0-for-4 on its own power-play chances.
Tkachuk has 11 points (eight goals, three assists) over his past eight games.
Stutzle registered his team-leading 36th of the season. The forward has 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists) over his past 16 games.
Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 26 shots. The Florida goalie was plagued by one-timers from the circle, as Tkachuk, Stutzle and DeBrincat all scored in similar fashion.
–Field Level Media
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