The Ottawa Senators scored an important 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers at the Canadian Tire Center on Monday night.
Both teams are in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race. The “Sens” now have 77 points on the clock, five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Pennsylvania formation occupies the last place that makes the spring dance accessible in the East. For their part, the Panthers have accumulated 79 points so far in 2022-2023.
Back to the game of the day, the Senators took a two-goal lead in the first half. Brady Tkachuk and Erik Brannstrom were the authors of these success stories.
Gustav Forsling closed the gap early in midframe, but Alex DeBrincat restored his two-goal lead. That net eventually emerged victorious as Forsling scored again in the third period. Tim Stützle and Shane Pinto completed the scorer in the final moments of the duel.
From the nets, Mads Sogaard made 32 saves in the win, while Sergei Bobrovsky made 21 of 25 pucks in the loss.
The Senators will face the Philadelphia Flyers again on Thursday. The Panthers meet the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Wednesday.
The islanders give each other a pillow
Picked #1 in the East playoff draft, the New York Islanders secured their lead over their pursuers by defeating the New Jersey Devils 5-1 at the UBS Arena.
Kyle Palmieri broke a 1-1 draw late in the second half and the ‘Islands’ never looked back after that.
The 32-year-old completed his double in the next engagement and reached a plateau of 15 in a season for the seventh time in his career. Pierre Engvall, Bo Horvat and Zach Parise were the other scorers for the winners.
Erik Haula was the only Devils representative to defeat goaltender Ilya Sorokin. The Russian made 30 saves to frustrate the team, which sit second in the Metropolitan section standings.