Senators rout Panthers 5-1 in Tkachuk’s return to Ottawa

OTTAWA – Brady Tkachuk scored in his first game back in Ottawa, but the Senators got goals from five different players to beat the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Wednesday night.

Tkachuk, traded to Florida on June 21 after eight seasons with the Senators, including five as captain, scored on the power play at 10:00 of the first period. He took a pass from his brother Matthew down low on the right side and sent a wrist shot under the right arm of Ottawa goalie Linus Ullmark. It was the Panthers’ first shot of the game.

Tim Stutzle tied it on the power play at 14:13 of the first, one-timing a pass from Jake Sanderson into an open net from the right face-off circle. Claude Giroux put Ottawa ahead at 9:34 of the second period with a wrist shot from between the circles past a screened Akira Schmid. Shane Pinto made it 3-1 at 17:18 when the puck deflected off his skate after he tried a deke on a pass from Sanderson.

Warren Foegele scored shorthanded at 7:58 of the third period, snapping a shot five-hole after Dylan Cozens beat Florida defenceman Sandis Vilmanis to set him up. Stephen Halliday added the final goal at 14:57, lifting a shot over Schmid’s glove from the right circle on a rush created by Stutzle’s pass.

Ullmark stopped 17 of 18 shots before leaving at 3:25 of the third period with a lower-body injury. Samuel Ersson made one save in relief. Ottawa coach Travis Green said Ullmark has a lower-body strain and will be reassessed Thursday. Schmid made 25 saves for Florida.

Sanderson, who had two assists, returned after missing eight games with a lower-body injury suffered in Ottawa’s season-opening 3-2 win at Toronto on Oct. 3. “It was awesome,” Sanderson said. “I think for me, just huge relief off my shoulders to get out there, and yeah, massive win for sure.”

Stutzle said it was the team’s best effort of the season. “I think great team effort,” Stutzle said. “Just stuck to our game for 60 minutes. I think that was probably the most full 60 minutes we played all year.”

Giroux described the atmosphere in the building. “It felt like a playoff game,” Giroux said. “You know, came out to fans’ standing ovation. It was a lot of energy in the building, and we played a pretty solid game tonight.”

Tkachuk said it was good to be back. “It was just nice to be back,” Tkachuk said. “Of course, not the outcome that we wanted, but start of a road trip. Just gotta bounce back, move on to tomorrow.”

Florida coach Paul Maurice said his team never found its game. “We were behind the play in the first. We just lost so many face-offs,” Maurice said. “The second period, we spent too much time in the penalty box.”

The Senators improved to 7-3-0 after a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Oct. 17, and they have won seven games this season, including a 4-1 win over the New Jersey Devils earlier this month. Ullmark leads the NHL in wins (seven) and save percentage (.945) and is second in goals-against average (1.33), NHL.com reported. Florida fell to 5-3-2, ending a three-game winning streak, and plays Thursday at Pittsburgh.

In the other game on the NHL schedule Wednesday, the Flyers beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-1, with Cole Knuble scoring his first two career NHL goals.

Sources: NHL.com and ESPN game recaps.

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