Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Reimer has hot hand for Panthers
Florida wins third straight in shutout
SUNRISE — The countdown started in the beginning of the month, long before the Florida Panthers beat the Ottawa Senators 1-0 on Saturday night at the BB&T Center. Set by coach Bob Boughner, the team flipped the hourglass, waiting for the sand to run out by the NHL’s Christmas break.
The calendar presented the Panthers with a dozen chances to claw back to respectability. The target was to be within a hot streak of playoff contention. The checkpoint was Saturday night.
With Jonathan Huberdeau’s second-period goal and goaltender James Reimer’s 38 saves, the Panthers entered a four-day break on a three-game win streak. It’s the first three-game winning streak of the season for Florida.
Huberdeau’s goal was his third in the past two games, arriving late in the play to finish a Nick Bjugstad assist. Keith Yandle led Bjugstad out of the defensive zone with an outlet pass to pick up the secondary assist. Huberdeau had one goal in his previous 10 games before his current outbreak.
But Reimer made sure Huberdeau’s goal would stand.
Reimer has owned the Panthers net since Roberto Luongo suffered a lower-body injury on Dec. 4. Saturday night was his ninth straight start and came on the heels of Friday night’s 60-minute effort. Florida will likely lean on him for at least another month with Luongo out.
“As long as he feels good,” Boughner said before Saturday’s game, “he’s going to play.”
Reimer wasn’t tested excessively, but came up huge when he had to. The Senators only had 20 shots on goal through the first 40 minutes of the game, but Reimer made three key saves to keep the Panthers up by a goal.
First, he got just enough of Mike Hoff-
“Everybody’s scoreboard watching this time of year and trying to jump up.”
man’s shot on the powerplay to deflect it off the pipe. Then, he stoned Erik Karlsson with a glove save after Karlsson broke free while shorthanded. As the seconds ticked off late in the second period, Derick Brassard rifled a shot on Reimer after a Panthers turnover.
Reimer stopped it. Brassard looked skyward in disgust. Ottawa had 13 shots in the second period. None found the net.
It was Reimer’s seventh shutout since joining the Panthers last summer, and first since April 9. In the two games immediately following Luongo’s injury, Reimer struggled. He gave up nine total goals to Winnipeg and Colorado.
The Panthers had nowhere else to turn. Backup Harri Sateri hasn’t played in a NHL game. The trade market or waiver wire haven’t given Florida a goaltender yet. So Florida rode Reimer.
He quelled panic and responded to his dip with a stellar road trip and entered Saturday night with a .936 save percentage in the last six games. Saturday was the jewel of his recent performances.
Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck exited in the third period after blocking a shot. He didn’t play the final 7:32.
As Reimer backstopped Florida and Huberdeau stayed hot, the Panthers finally found what evaded them the first three months of the season: a three-game win streak. Three different times had the Panthers entered a game with the chance to win a third consecutive one. Three times they lost.
With a win over Arizona on Tuesday and a victory over Minnesota on Friday, the hobbled Senators presented another chance. Ottawa was missing three regulars in their lineup, with defenseman Dion Phaneuf tending to his newborn and forward Bobby Ryan and goalie Craig Anderson injured.
“Tonight’s a chance for us to do something we haven’t done yet,” Boughner said. “It’s a team that’s close to us in the standings. Everybody’s scoreboard watching this time of year and trying to jump up. This is an opportunity for us. We have nothing to save it for with a few days off.”
The win allowed Florida to keep pace in the Eastern Conference, on a night both Boston and the New York Islanders won. The Panthers still have an uphill battle to climb back to mediocrity, with seven points separating them from a playoff spot entering Saturday.
But with four days off, the Panthers will marinate in a three-game win streak.