Luongo, Panthers Look To Get Back On Track Against Visiting Senators
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SUNRISE (CBSMiami/SportsDirect) – The Florida Panthers have hit a speed bump of late and are looking to get back on track.
The Panthers can move into a virtual three-way tie for first place in the Atlantic Division when they host the desperate Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
The Panthers have managed just one victory in their last six contests (1-3-2) to drop to third in the division after recording 51 shots in Monday's 5-4 overtime loss to Boston.
Florida, which has been one of the league's top defensive teams most of the season, has allowed 21 goals during its current six-game slump and Roberto Luongo owns an .878 save percentage in three games this month.
The Senators made a run in February but are just 1-2-2 in March and trail Detroit by five points for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Captain and leading scorer Erik Karlsson has gone four games without a point for Ottawa, which gave up the tying goal with less than one second left in the third period and lost 4-3 in a shootout at Carolina on Tuesday.
Senators goaltender Andrew Hammond told reporters, "Every point we don't take advantage of at this point is a bit more frustrating."
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, TSN5, RDS2 (Ottawa), FSN Florida
ABOUT THE SENATORS (31-29-8): While Karlsson is cooling off, leading goal scorer Mike Hoffman (25) has gone without a point in his last five games and recently was dropped to the fourth line.
Mark Stone has points in three straight contests and is second on the team with 53 – 15 behind Karlsson – while Bobby Ryan is next with 50.
Craig Anderson (knee) is closing in on a return to the lineup after missing the last four games as Hammond has posted a .933 save percentage in five contests this month.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (36-21-9): Jaromir Jagr passed Gordie Howe for third place on the all-time list with 1,851 points after notching an assist Monday and tops the team with 49 points this season.
Jonathan Huberdeau (concussion) returned to the lineup and registered two assists Monday while fourth-line center Derek Mackenzie (upper body) could be back in the lineup against Ottawa.
Jussi Jokinen is riding an eight-game point streak (one goal, eight assists) while fellow veteran Jiri Hudler, acquired from Calgary at the trade deadline, scored two goals Monday.
OVERTIME
- Florida C Aleksander Barkov has registered seven points (four goals, three assists) in seven games since returning from a concussion.
- Ottawa ranked second-to-last in penalty-killing (74.2 percent) entering Wednesday.
- The Panthers won two of the first three meetings in the season series, which concludes in Ottawa on April 7.
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