Ottawa breaks it open early
Panthers give up game’s only two goals in 19 seconds.
OTTAWA — The Florida Panthers did pretty much everything right Saturday night in Ottawa.
They killed offff all seven power plays the Senators had, limiting them to six shots.
They outshot the Senators 24-21, including a 13-7 advantage in the second period, and they carried the play all game — with the exception of the opening 14 minutes.
That’s when they had all their problems.
The Panthers produced one shot on goal during that span and allowed the only two goals of the game in a 2-0 loss. To break it down even further, those two goals came just 19 seconds apart in the early stages of the game when Erik Karlsson opened the scoring at 6:46 and Derick Brassard closed out the scoring at 7:05. Both goals were scored within inches of Roberto Luongo, who was perfect, although lonely, the rest of the night.
The good news i s they won’t have to wait long to try to get back into the win c ol umn as they play the fififth game of their six-game road swing tonight in Boston against the Bruins.
They will close out their longest trip of the season Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers, marking the fourth consecutive game agai nst Atl anti c Divi s i on opponents.
“They’re big games against t h e At l a n t i c Di v i s i o n s o we just have to move past (Ottawa) and try and end the trip with four points,” Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle said.
The game will be a homecoming of sorts for coach To m Rowe, who i s f ro m nearby Lynn, Mass., but he is not making a big deal about his fifirst game as an NHL head coach in his hometown.
“I’m excited about it. It’s the same feeling I had when I came here as a player, but I’ve got to be more focused because I’ve got 20 guys to worry about,” Rowe said. Pa anthers at Br ruins, 7 p.m., FSN
“We’ve got a game to win and I’m coaching against one of the best coaches in the league in Claude Julien and we’ve got to get back on the winning track.”
Scoring more goals would go a long way to getting the Panthers back on that track. They have just eight goals in their past six games.
“We’re passing up too many shot opportunities and we probably need to get a little more motion in the offffffffffffensive zone and get a little more creative,” Rowe said. “You have to take advantage of the opportunities you get and if you’re only getting a few, you want to bury them. But it will come. We’ve got too much skill here for it not to come. Right now, we’re in a bit of a dry spell and things aren’t clicking. The guys are trying too hard and when you try too hard you’re not reacting naturally to what you see.”
There was some good news for the Panthers as defenseman Aaron Ekblad will not miss any game action. He was struck beneath the right eye in the fifirst period Saturday and had to leave the game for a spell and received stitches before returning.
The Panthers also have c a l l e d u p f o r wa r d P a u l Thompson from the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League.
“I know he’ll be ready to play. He’s got a heavy shot and he’ll play a hard-nosed, two-way game,” Rowe said of the Methuen, Mass., resident.