Fight City: Florida Panthers 5, Ottawa Senators 0

Remember those Florida Panthers y’all knew and loved? They were back Monday night in Ottawa against the Senators.

A few days removed from laying an egg against Winnipeg, the Panthers dominated all facets of their first meeting with the Senators in a fight-filled 5-0 victory.

Florida got two goals from Sam Reinhart — who pulled into a tie for the NHL lead with 15 — and scored on its first three power play chances all while shutting Ottawa’s power play down.

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Down 1-0 in the first, Ottawa got a 4-minute power play chance off a high-stick from Reinhart.

Ottawa got all of one shot on goal.

The Senators failed to get a shot off against Sergei Bobrovsky in their next chance with the man advantage.

Ottawa ended up going 0-for-6 which will help Florida’s stats.

Reinhart got his second of the night on Florida’s second power play chance which withstood a lengthy challenge as it appeared Matthew Tkachuk was offside.

“There was no conclusive evidence to determine that Bennett touched the puck in the offensive zone prior to Tkachuk legally tagging up at the blue line,” the NHL explained, “therefore, the call on the ice stands.”

The Panthers turned around and got a Sam Bennett goal on the ensuing power play stemming from Ottawa losing the challenge.

Tkachuk, going up against younger brother Brady for the 19th time in their careers, set Reinhart up on the first goal with a slick pass from the front of the net.

As fights started at the end of the second and bled into the third, Florida took a 4-0 lead on a Carter Verhaeghe goal in front.

Not long after that, a big melee broke out with all of the skaters on the ice being kicked out of the game with 10-minute misconducts.

It was a scene, man.

Eetu Luostarinen ended the scoring as one of the few players still eligible to play.

Bobrovsky ended up with 20 saves as he picked up a shutout against Joonas Korpisalo, his former backup in Columbus.

— Sasha Barkov got the secondary assist on Reinhart’s first goal giving him 400 in his career. Barkov ended up with assists on the first three power play goals putting him 13 back of Jonathan Huberdeau for the franchise record.

— Brandon Montour got his first point in his fifth game back from offseason surgery.

— Ottawa’s Zack MacEwan was tossed from the game and given a 5-minute match penalty when he targeted the head of Matthew Tkachuk in the third period. A suspension may be next.

Tkachuk ended up dropping the gloves with Jake Sanderson.

— Nice moment in the game as Robert Lamoureux, Ryan Lomberg’s grandfather, was honored during one of the timeouts.

The Senators honour Canadian Armed Forces veteran Robert Lamoureux, grandfather of Ryan Lomberg who is playing in Ottawa tonight for the Panthers! 👏 pic.twitter.com/vHbgXQb4Zc

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) November 28, 2023

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Panthers 1, Senators 0 (1:28, 1st PP): Sam Reinhart gets his first of the night as Matthew Tkachuk hits him in the slot.
• Panthers 2, Senators 0 (5:59, 2nd PP): Reinhart beats Joonas Korpisalo to the puck as the Ottawa goalie came out to play it, wraps around and banks the puck off of him as he struggles to get back in position.
• Panthers 3, Senators 0 (7:09, 2nd PP): Sam Bennett powers his way into the slot and backhands a shot past Korpisalo for his second goal of the season.
• Panthers 4, Senators 0 (11:59, 3rd): Carter Verhaeghe scored from the slot as two Ottawa players were busy giving Bennett the business along the boards.
• Panthers 5, Senators 0 (16:52, 3rd): Eetu Luostarinen’s goal gives the Panthers their biggest lead of the season.

GR’S 3 STARS OF THE GAME

1. Sam Reinhart, Florida

2. Sasha Barkov, Florida

3. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida

PANTHERS ON DECK

FLORIDA PANTHERS @ TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

• When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
• TV/Streaming: Bally Sports Florida/ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WBZT 1230-AM (West Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); WCZR 101.7-FM (Treasure Coast); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL app
• This Season (Florida Leads 1-0) — At Florida: Panthers 3, Leafs 1 (Oct. 19); April 16. At Toronto: Tuesday; April 1
• Last Season: Toronto won Regular Season Series 3-1; Florida won Eastern Conference Semifinals 4-1
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 48-37-7, 7 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Thursday at Montreal, 7 p.m.