Florida Panthers
Senators and Panthers Can Bring Out the Worst in Each Other
When the Florida Panthers and Ottawa Senators meet up, one never knows what havoc may occur.
Their history together over the last few seasons has been, well, less than friendly.
It doesn’t take much to figure out that mayhem is coming when you have a game with a Tkachuk on either side.
Brady, with Ottawa, is second in the NHL in penalties with 99 minutes; Matthew, the more passive of the two, has a mere 54 minutes and is not even in the top 25.
“It starts and ends with one word. It’s a last name,” Ryan Lomberg said last year.
“It’s ‘Tkachuk.’ Brady is their leader; Matthew is one of our leaders.”
In Florida’s second game of this season, Ottawa beat Florida 3-1 in a game that was pretty quiet — until Sasha Barkov got hurt after going skates-first into the end boards after chasing down a puck headed to an empty net in an attempt to stop Tim Stutzle from scoring.
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Their fourth matchup last season in Sunrise was a mild affair, save for minor tussles between Zack MacEwen and Jonah Gadjovich, followed by some angry looks between Niko Mikkola and Ridly Greig.
MacEwen started this season in Ottawa but has since been sent to the AHL; Gadjovich could be back in the lineup tonight.
Compared to what happened in previous games, that match was highly passive.
Last season, the Panthers were 4-0 against Ottawa, outscoring the Sens 16-2.
The bad blood began in earnest with the final meeting of the 2022-23 season in a game that featured 166 minutes in penalties with six fighting majors, 10 roughing minors, four 10-minute misconducts, and three game misconducts.
The Tkachuk family has a rule that Brady and Matthew will never fight each other, but in that game, Brady duked it out with Marc Staal while Matthew fought Drake Batherson.
The next meeting came early last season. A summer off did not cool any heads.
The Panthers and Senators racked up 167 minutes in the bin, topping the prior game by a minute.
The main culprit was MacEwen (again), who got tired of Matthew taking liberties with his team and nailed him with a flying elbow to the head, earning him a match penalty for intent to injure.
There was much more, but you get the point: These teams are not traditional rivals, but they do not like each other.
Some resident agitators, such as MacEwen and Lomberg, are no longer with the teams, which might lower the retaliation factor tonight.
But the hockey should be good.
The Senators are a much-improved team. They hold the first wild-card position and have a good shot at making their first playoff appearance since 2017.
Ottawa just lost two straight in Tampa after having a five-game winning streak.
So, these games are essential to Ottawa.
What’s changed for the Senators?
They have a new coach in Travis Green, who formerly coached in New Jersey and Vancouver after a 970-game playing career.
Probably the most significant on-ice change has been the arrival of goalie Linus Ullmark from Boston.
The mediocre season of last year’s combination of Anton Forsberg and Joonas Korpisalo left the Senators 28th in the NHL in defense.
Both had a save percentage under .900 and a GAA well over 3.00.
Ullmark, who sports a lifetime .918 save percentage, has lent more credibility to the defense.
Defenseman Jacob Chychrun has also departed, traded in the offseason to Washington for stay-at-home defenseman Nick Jensen and a draft pick.
Old friend Nick Cousins is on a one-year deal in Ottawa but has missed the past six games with a knee injury that required surgery.
Stutzle leads the Senators with 17 goals and 55 points. He’s ahead of last year but far off of his 2022-23 career-high 39 goals and 90 points.
Brady Tkachuk is the only 20-goal scorer. Josh Norris has 19 goals but has missed the last three games with a “mid-body” injury and could be out a bit more.
Former Panther rental Claude Giroux still has something left in the tank, scoring 11 goals. Batherson, with 16 goals, is his usual steady self.
Sit back and enjoy. This should be a good one.
ON DECK: GAME No. 57
OTTAWA SENATORS at FLORIDA PANTHERS
- When: Saturday, 7 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
- Last Season: Panthers won 4-0
- This Season (Senators Lead 1-0) — At Ottawa: Senators 3, Panthers 1 (Oct 10); Ap. 5. At Florida: Saturday.
- All-time Regular Season Series: Ottawa leads 58-48-5, 3 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Feb. 22 vs. Seattle Kraken, 6 p.m.
