Florida Panthers Leave Senators with ‘Sour Taste’ After Blowout

SUNRISE — As has happened so many times in recent years, NHL teams have come to the Sunshine State and found anything but southern hospitality either being with a loss to the Florida Panthers or the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Rarely, if ever, has a team lost three times on a single trip.

Yet, the Senators got a triple dose of rudeness from the Lightning and Panthers this past week.

Ottawa, which had won five straight before flying south for what they hoped was some validation (and maybe a coronation), lost twice in Tampa on Tuesday and Thursday before visiting the Panthers on Saturday night.

The Senators did not bounce back and instead received a thorough tune-up by a 5-1 final in the latest installment of the Tkachuk Bowl.

Ottawa was outscored 14-5 in three games against the Lightning and Panthers.

Usually, the Senators could not wait to head north fast enough after such a trip.

Yet due to the NHL’s two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off, most of the team is staying behind to enjoy the actual, non-hockey, tropical hospitality.

And enjoy it, they probably will.

Only Saturday was not a whole lot of fun for the Sens.

In the second period, it looked like Ottawa’s sunny vacation had already taken hold after a fast start.

The Senators got their night off on the right foot, Brady Tkachuk scoring on a power-play goal for a 1-0 lead.

Then, the Panthers came at the Senators like a Brightline train, with Matthew Tkachuk matching his younger brother with a nasty power-play wrister to tie the score at 1.

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Florida’s other eight-man 4 Nations lineup members kept the party of a final night in Sunrise — for two weeks, anyway — going strong.

Sasha Barkov (Finland), Gus Forsling (Sweden), and Sam Bennett (Canada) all scored in the second, giving the Panthers a comfortable and commanding 4-1 lead headed into the third.

Anton Lundell, one of three other Finnish players Barkov will captain at the tournament, added an empty-net goal to polish things off.

Coincidence or not, a player who will be part of the tournament scored every goal in the game.

The NHL has to love that.

“We’ve got so many people involved with it,” Paul Maurice said, “personally I am very interested. Even if we didn’t have as many people, I think it’s really good for the game. It’s best possibly for the fans because they get to cheer for a different team, they get to cheer for their country in-season, which I think is great. The players that get to go to this tournament, they won’t forget it.”

It was a relatively quiet game, considering the history of these teams.

When it was over, the Senators were not happy, but despite their three-game losing streak, remain in a wild-card spot.

It’s a place not too many experts expected them to be.

Following the game, Ottawa players were complimentary of the Panthers.

Many are.

“It was a good start getting up 1-0,” Drake Batherson said. “In the second, you give those skilled guys some odd-man rushes, and they’ll make you pay. That’s what happened.”

Batherson, who assited on Brady Tkachuk’s goal, said the Panthers are one of the toughest forechecking teams in the league. 

“The ‘D,’ they probably have the best (ability) in the league,” Batherson said. “Each line can skate; they’re physical; there’s not much space out there. You look at that team. We’re trying to play like that, as well, so it will be good to get a break. They’re a good team.”

Thomas Chabot denied that the Senators were already on a tropical holiday.

OK.

When the Panthers took control of the game in the second, it looked like Ottawa checked out and was ready to head back to the comforts of Fort Lauderdale.

“Obviously these last three games leave a sour taste in your mouth,” he said. “You just have to recharge and look at what we’ve done so far this season. We’re exactly where we wanted to be. Compete for a playoff spot. It’s going to be a sprint to the end of the season.”

Ottawa coach Travis Green has been through his share of trials and tribulations with rebuilding teams.

Green’s Senators beat the Panthers in Florida’s second game of the season in Ottawa, but things looked much differently on Saturday night.

The Panthers, certainly, looked like a much different team. Which they are.

“You watch that team play,” Green said. “They don’t change their game a lot. They know how to play to win, and theystick with it.”

Maurice was just as complimentary about the improved Senators in what appeared to be a coach’s mutual admiration society.

“The Ottawa Senators are a completely different team than they were two years ago,” Maurice said when asked about the lack of outright pugilism compared to 2022.

“Much better. Much improved. Three or four really important players out of their lineup. … Ottawa and Florida, we were both trying to find our soul two years ago. Now both teams are good, and they’ve got to be smart about how they play.”

Maurice, unlike eight of his players and other personnel in his organization, will be taking a break.

The Panthers, aside from the eight headed north, will take at least a few days of the 14-day hiatus away from hockey.

But, when the puck drops Wednesday night between Team Canada and Sweden at 8 p.m. in Montreal, Maurice will be watching.

The Panthers just hope to come back healthy — and to keep things rolling.

Florida has won five of six, and Matthew Tkachuk has a six-game goal streak.

“Hopefully, I keep it going for [the tournament],” Tkachuk said, “then pick up right where we left off.”

ON DECK: GAME No. 58

SEATTLE KRAKEN at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, Feb. 22, 6 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Season Series (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Seattle: Panthers 2, Kraken 1 SO (Dec. 11). At Florida: Feb. 22.
• Last Season: Tied 1-1
• All-Time Regular Season Series: Seattle leads 4-3-0
• Up Next for the Panthers: Feb. 25 at Nashville Predators, 8 p.m.