Anton Forsberg’s 24th start of the season may have been his best, as the Ottawa Senators‘ backup turned aside all 40 of the Florida Panthers‘ (44-28-4) shots for his third shutout of the season and a Senators (41-29-6) 3-0 victory at Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday afternoon. The third and final matchup with the defending Stanley Cup champions saw the Sens get heavily outshot and withstand multiple flurries from the Panthers to steal another two points in their quest to secure a wild card slot as the regular season winds down.
Saturday’s matchup did not feature either Tkachuk brother as Brady missed his third consecutive game for Ottawa with an upper body injury, and Matthew has been out since the 4 Nations break, but has resumed skating as Florida prepares for another playoff run. Panthers’ goalie Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves in Florida’s fourth straight loss.
Game Recap
After a scoreless opening 10 minutes, the Senators struck twice in the second half of the opening period. The first goal came from Ottawa defenceman Jake Sanderson off a behind-the-net feed from Shane Pinto for his 11th of the season and fourth in his last five games.
Ottawa’s second goal of the period came on the power play, courtesy of Drake Batherson who tipped in a Jake Sanderson point-shot for his 22nd of the season. Dylan Cozens picked up his 27th assist of the season on Batherson’s goal, which was his 11th power play goal of the season.
Florida was held scoreless in the opening 20 minutes despite outshooting the Sens 13-7.
The majority of the second period was spent in Ottawa’s end, and they were outshot 12-5, and even went over 10 minutes without a shot of their own. Forsberg made multiple point-blank stops as the Sens were able to escape the frame with a two-goal lead. Perhaps Florida’s best chance to cut Ottawa’s lead in half came three minutes into the second period on a short-handed breakaway by Jesper Boqvist that was turned away by Forsberg. Boqvist’s goalless streak has now reached 26 games.
Forsberg continued to stand on his head in the second period. He stopped all 12 shots he faced, including a 2-on-1 opportunity for Brad Marchand and Seth Jones, where Forsberg slid across the crease and denied the Panthers’ defenseman. With under two minutes remaining in the period, Panthers’ forward Evan Rodrigues batted a Mackie Samoskevich saucer past Forsberg and into the net, but it was deemed a high stick.
The third period followed a similar tone as the second with the Panthers heavily outshooting the Sens 15-4, and Forsberg turning away every Panthers opportunity. There were multiple scrums in front of the Ottawa crease as the Sens withstood the third period Florida siege and held on for the Saturday afternoon victory. The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky with three minutes left in regulation, which allowed Sens center Matthew Highmore to put his second of the season into the empty net and seal the game. Saturday’s empty netter was Highmore’s first goal since Jan. 12 against the Dallas Stars.
The Sens will finish off the weekend back-to-back on Sunday (April 6) when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets. They now sit at 88 points on the season and move closer to securing a playoff spot. The Panthers will also finish off a back-to-back on Sunday (April 6) when they return home to face the Detroit Red Wings in Sunrise.
