SUNRISE, Fla. — Rudolfs Balcers scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period and Ottawa Senators beat the Florida Panthers 3-2 Sunday, snapping a seven-game losing streak.
Brian Gibbons and Zack Smith also scored for the Senators. Anders Nilsson stopped 30 shots.
Troy Brouwer and Aleksander Barkov scored for the Panthers, and Roberto Luongo made 30 saves. Florida has lost four straight.
Balcers gave the Senators a 3-2 lead with a power-play goal with 2:35 left in the second period, redirecting a shot by Dylan DeMelo past Luongo.
Trailing 2-1, Gibbons tied the game at 2-all at 5:06 of the second. Cody Ceci passed from behind the net to Gibbons in the slot, and he beat Luongo on the glove side.
Smith put the Senators ahead 1-0 when he poked a rebound behind Luongo at 5:10 of the first.
Barkov tied the game at 1 at 9:02 of the first. Mark Pysyk took a long shot from above the right circle and Barkov deflected the puck under Nilsson’s pads.
Brouwer’s goal, a wrist shot from the lower right circle, gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead with 4:24 left in the first.
NOTES: Barkov has matched his career-high total of 28 goals. … Gibbons’ goal was his first for the Senators since being acquired from Anaheim on Feb. 25th. … Both teams were playing the second game of back-to-backs. The Senators lost 5-1 at Tampa Bay and the Panthers lost 4-3 in overtime to Carolina on Saturday. … University of Miami football coach Manny Diaz dropped the puck before the start of the game.
UP NEXT:
Senators: At the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
Panthers: At the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
___
More AP NHL: www.apnews.com/NHL and www.twitter.com/AP_Sports
Paul Gereffi, The Associated Press
