Senators 4, Panthers 2
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Left winger Mike Hoffman scored the game-winning goal with 5:37 left in the third period as the Ottawa Senators rallied to beat the Florida Panthers 4-2 on Tuesday at the BB&T Center.
Hoffman, who leads Ottawa with 15 goals, has seven markers in his past six games. Set up in front of the Panthers goal, Hoffman got a deflection that came back to him and calmly deposited it past Florida goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Senators goalie Craig Anderson, who made 25 saves, improved his career record against Florida to 12-4-1, earning a win on the day that marked the one-year anniversary of Dave Cameron as Ottawa's coach.
The Senators win overshadowed Florida rookie right winger Logan Shaw, who scored his first NHL goal. Florida also got a goal from right winger Reilly Smith.
Luongo gave up two leads, allowing power-play goals by centers Zack Smith and Kyle Turris.
Ottawa got an empty-net goal by center Jean-Gabriel Pageau with 2:31 left. Florida had a two-man advantage at the time, but Reilly Smith was stripped of the puck, leading to the goal.
Florida opened the scoring with Shaw's goal that came with 12:11 remaining left in the first period. Shaw had center Derek Mackenzie to his left on a two-on-one breakaway. Rather than pass, Shaw fired a slap shot that beat Anderson high to his glove side.
It was just the seventh NHL game for Shaw, 23.
However, the first period ended on an ominous note for Florida when Panthers center Brandon Pirri was penalized for slashing defenseman Patrick Wiercioch. The penalty carried over into the second period.
Sure enough, Ottawa tied the score 48 seconds into the second on the goal by Zach Smith. It was his seventh goal of the season, and it ended Florida's seven-game streak of killing 20 penalties in a row.
There were 34 seconds left on the penalty when the Senators moved the puck quickly, going from down low with right winger Mark Stone to Smith in the slot.
With 6:02 left in the second period, Florida went ahead 2-1 on another breakaway. Reilly Smith, who took a great pass from center Vincent Trocheck, was in alone on Anderson, beating him high to the glove side with a backhand shot. It was his seventh goal of the season.
The Senators tied the score 2-2 at 50 seconds of the third period on the goal by Turris. After a hooking penalty on center Aleksander Barkov, the Senators went on the attack, and Turris pounced on a long rebound, firing the puck past Luongo for his 12th goal of the season.
NOTES: This was the first of five meetings this season between the Senators and Panthers. Last season, they split four games. ... Entering Tuesday, the Senators ranked third in the NHL in goals scored, and Ottawa D Erik Karlsson was first in the league in points among defensemen. Karlsson also leads Ottawa with 56 blocked shots. ... Ottawa scratched G Andrew Hammond, D Chris Phillips, LW Shane Prince and LW Clarke MacArthur. ... On Tuesday, Panthers G Roberto Luongo moved past Hall of Famer Tony Esposito into seventh place on the NHL list for career games played by a goalie. ... Florida scratched LW Shawn Thornton, C Nick Bjugstad and D Alex Petrovic. ... This was Florida's first home game since a highly successful 4-1 road trip. ... Senators prospect Colin White was among 29 players invited to the USA World Juniors camp on Monday.