Luongo Shines As Panthers Get Big Road Win Over Senators
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OTTAWA (CBSMiami/AP) — The Florida Panthers may be battling injuries and a flu bug but the team looked solid in a big road win north of the border.
Jaromir Jagr fueled the Panthers on a strong offensive night. Still, the veteran forward was ready to credit this victory to his goaltender.
Roberto Luongo made 39 saves to back a three-point effort by Jagr, helping the Panthers beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Saturday night.
"The score says we won 4-1," Jagr said, "but Lou saved three or four goals at least, so we have to thank him."
Jagr had a goal and two assists, and Jussi Jokinen, Jonathan Marchessault and Derek MacKenzie also scored for the Panthers.
"When we got our chances, we buried them, and sometimes that's all it takes," Luongo said. "All in all, I made a couple of big saves, but the boys were able to take advantage of the opportunities and give me a little bit of breathing room."
Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored and Craig Anderson made 19 saves for the Senators, who have lost back-to-back games for just the second time this season.
"We did a lot of good things, and we have to build off it," Ottawa wing Chris Neil said, adding that "if you play like that, you're going to win more games than you're going to lose."
Pageau ended Luongo's shutout bid when his shot from below the goal line found its way between the netminder and the crossbar at 4:45 of the third period.
Through 40 minutes, the Senators had nothing to show for two very solid periods of hockey, other than 27 shots on goal.
At one point in the first, they held a 12-3 advantage in shots but trailed 2-0 after Jagr had a hand in on both goals.
He opened the scoring 25 seconds in when his backhand shot was redirected by the stick of Senators forward Derick Brassard.
Jagr then left the puck at the Ottawa blue line for Aleksander Barkov. He found Jokinen in the slot, and Jokinen beat Anderson high glove side with a wrist shot.
Luongo got some help in the second period when Aaron Ekblad slid to block Mark Stone's shot after the original attempt by Brassard went off the end boards right to Stone at the side of the net.
Luongo later stopped Pageau point blank with a sprawling save, then foiled Dzingel on a breakaway.
"We were pretty lucky," Jagr said. "It's nice to get a win but we were lucky and Lou played excellent and was unbelievable in the net."
Marchessault gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead at 14:55 of the second when a blocked shot went right to his stick at the side of the goal. He quickly swatted the puck past Anderson.
MacKenzie scored for the Panthers at 9:16 when his shot barely got through Anderson and across the goal line.
Notes: Bobby Ryan, Mike Hoffman and Andrew Hammond were scratches for the Senators while Dylan McIlrath, Greg McKegg and Kyle Rau were scratches for the Panthers. ... Curtis Lazar was recalled by the Senators and made his season debut. ... The Senators placed goaltender Andrew Hammond on waivers. ... Panthers D Keith Yandle played in his 569th consecutive game. He currently ranks second in consecutive game played behind the 722 of Ducks F Andrew Cogliano.
UP NEXT
Panthers: At Madison Square Garden to face the New York Rangers on Sunday.
Senators: Play Tuesday night in Montreal.
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