Senators at Panthers
The surging Florida Panthers attempt to extend their franchise-record home winning streak to nine games when they host the struggling Ottawa Senators on Monday night. The Panthers edged the New York Rangers 4-3 in a shootout Saturday to earn a point for a ninth straight contest (8-0-1) overall and remain two points out of the second wild card in the Eastern Conference with three games in hand.
“Anytime we can kind of establish a little bit of a home advantage it goes a long way,” Florida center Vincent Trocheck told reporters. “As long as the fans keep coming out and getting loud for us and we keep winning games at home, it’s going to be a huge advantage for us down the stretch.” The Panthers have three more games at home before playing seven of eight on the road and hope to take advantage of the Senators, who are one point from last-place in the Eastern Conference. Ottawa is just 2-6-2 in its last 10 contests after suffering a 2-1 loss to Calgary at home on Friday night and is tied for the fewest road victories in the league (nine). “I think we were a little too checked out,” Senators captain Erik Karlsson told reporters after Friday’s loss. “We scored a goal (late in the game) and that kind of got us going, but you can’t (just) play the last five minutes of every game. It doesn’t really work that way.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN5, RDS2 (Ottawa), FS Florida
ABOUT THE SENATORS (23-33-11): Right wing Mark Stone saw his 10-game point streak come to an end Friday, but has registered two goals and 13 assists over the last 11 games and leads the team with 62 points. Karlsson has picked up his production of late as the two-time Norris Trophy winner boasts a pair of goals, six assists and a plus-1 rating in his past six contests. Ryan Dzingel needs one goal to reach 20 for the first time in his career while fellow forward Mike Hoffman can reach that mark for the fourth straight season with one more tally.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (34-25-7): Forward Frank Vatrano, acquired from Boston on Feb. 22, made his Florida debut after recovering from a lower-body injury and notched a goal in 19:05 of ice time. “It’s awesome,” Vatrano told reporters. “It’s even better that it helped out getting a win. For me, it’s kind of taking it shift by shift and getting used to the systems. I haven’t played in about a month and it’s probably the most minutes I’ve played in two years.” Alexander Barkov saw his eight-game point streak end Saturday, but leads the team with 68 - six better than Trocheck.
OVERTIME
1. Ottawa RW Bobby Ryan (eight goals, 19 assists in 2017-18) needs one point to reach 500 in his career.
2. This is the first of three meetings for the Atlantic Division rivals in 18 days. The Panthers won the only other matchup 1-0 on Dec. 23.
3. Florida LW Jonathan Huberdeau has recorded three goals in his last four games and is third on the team with 61 points.