Senators 5, Panthers 1
Rookie Bobby Butler tallied twice and Jason Spezza scored a goal and set up two others as the Ottawa Senators snapped a 10-game home losing skid with a 5-1 triumph over the visiting Florida Panthers on Wednesday.
Ryan Shannon collected a goal and an assist and defenseman Filip Kuba set up a pair of tallies for Ottawa (20-31-9), which recorded its first victory at Scotiabank Place since a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 26. The Senators were 0-7-3 in front of their home fans prior to Wednesday's victory.
Making his second start since being traded to Canada's capital city, Craig Anderson finished with 23 saves against one of his former teams. The 29-year-old Illinois native, who spent parts of three seasons with the Panthers, stopped all 47 shots he faced in a 1-0 shootout victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
After Butler opened the scoring 11:13 into the first period, Shannon doubled the advantage just 36 seconds into the second period with a power-play tally.
Chris Higgins put the Panthers on the scoreboard nearly three minutes later, but Butler added his second of the contest midway through the session and Milan Michalek and Spezza tallied under two minutes apart in the third to seal the win.
Scott Clemmensen stopped 29 shots for Florida (25-28-7), which suffered its 13th loss in 17 games.