National Hockey League
Ottawa 4, Florida 2
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Where: BB&T Center, Sunrise, Florida
Referees: Jean Hebert, Rob Martell
Linesmen: Lonnie Cameron, Steve Miller
Attendance: 11571

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Florida Panthers came into Tuesday night's game with a seven-game streak in which they had killed 20 penalties in a row.

The Ottawa Senators overcame that, scoring two power-play goals.

Florida had its star goaltender, Roberto Luongo, in net, and the Senators overcame that, too, rallying from two deficits, scoring three third-period goals.

The result was a 4-2 Senators win at the BB&T Center as left winger Mike Hoffman scored the game-winning goal with 5:37 left in the third.

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 he calmly deposited it past Luongo.

"The puck managed to get to me in the slot," Hoffman said, "and I just tried to get it away as quick as I (could). I didn't really see where it ended up."

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.

Cameron, though, took the win and the anniversary in stride.

"The power play was huge and instrumental in the win," Cameron said. "It gave us a lot of momentum."

Ottawa, which lost 4-1 at the New York Rangers on Sunday night, getting outshot 12-3 in the third period, had the day off Monday in South Florida, and that plan apparently worked as the Senators had plenty left toward the end of Tuesday's game.

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, who made 19 saves, allowed 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 -- one because of a tripping penalty on defenseman Cody Ceci and one because Luongo had been pulled for an extra attacker -- 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 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 happened pretty quick," said Shaw, 23, who was playing just his seventh NHL game. "I saw (MacKenzie) on that two-on-one, but I wanted to take that shot."

Despite the lead, 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.

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.

Smith said it was a "great pass" by Trocheck, but he also credited Pirri for his pass off the boards, starting the breakaway.

"Pirri did a good job getting the puck out," Smith said, "creating a two on one, just me and (Trocheck)."

Turris' goal tied the score 2-2 just 50 seconds into the third period. 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.

In the end, the Panthers, who have won five straight road games, tying a franchise record set in 2008, failed to capitalize on that momentum at home.

"Ottawa has a great power play," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. "I thought we were a really good hockey team for the first two periods. But the penalties came back to haunt us, and we didn't have that jump in the third."

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. ... Senators G Craig Anderson lives in Coral Springs -- just minutes away from the BB&T Center. ... 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.
Top Game Performances
 
Ottawa   Florida
Mark Stone 3 Points Logan Shaw 1
Kyle Turris 1 Goals Logan Shaw 1
Mark Stone 3 Assists Jussi Jokinen 1
Kyle Turris 1 Power Play Goals N/A
Jean-Gabriel Pageau 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Craig Anderson .926 Save Percentage Roberto Luongo .864
Craig Anderson 25 Saves Roberto Luongo 19
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Ottawa 23 4 2-5 4-4 8 29
Florida 27 2 0-4 3-5 20 25
Upcoming Games
  • Florida will play their next game at home against Washington. The Panthers have a W/L % of .538 after a win and .400 after a loss.
  • Ottawa will play their next game on the road against Tampa Bay. The Senators have a W/L % of .533 after a win and .538 after a loss.