Panthers at Senators
THE STORY: The Florida Panthers have been playing an awful lot of close games recently, with three of their last four spanning past regulation. In Tuesday's 2-1 home loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, Florida came within a missed penalty shot with 24.5 seconds left in the third period of forcing another extra session. The Panthers came out on the winning end of two of those overtime games and are 5-2-2 over the last nine. The next challenge is stopping the Ottawa Senators, who have defeated Florida in each of the last seven meetings. The host Senators were scuffling along for much of December before turning it on over the last 10 days with wins in three of their last four games. Ottawa has broken out offensively in its last two contests, totaling 10 goals in wins over the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSFL (Florida), RSNO (Ottawa)
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (18-10-6): Stephen Weiss was stopped on his penalty shot attempt by Phoenix's Jason LaBarbera, robbing Florida of a chance at three straight wins. The Panthers have built a large lead in the Southeast Division thanks to strong play on the blue line and hot goaltending from Jose Theodore, who is carrying a strong 2.31 goals-against average. The statistic is his best since he was with the Montreal Canadiens in 2003-04.
ABOUT THE SENATORS (16-14-4): Kyle Turris made his Ottawa debut on Tuesday after being acquired from the Coyotes and assisted on one of Erik Condra’s two third-period goals. Turris won’t do much to help the Senators defense, which is allowing an NHL-worst 3.4 goals. G Craig Anderson made 22 saves in Tuesday’s win - the first time he had allowed less than two goals since Nov. 15.
OVERTIME:
1. Anderson played for Florida from 2006-09 and is 5-0-1 with a 2.13 goals-against average in seven games against his former team.
2. Theodore sat out the first meeting this season and in 8-14-2-2 with a 3.17 goals-against average in 27 career games against the Senators.
3. Florida's Brian Campbell is second among NHL defensemen with 26 points - three goals.