Panthers Drop Road Trip Finale To Sens

Ottawa Senators goalie Ray Emery (1) watches the puck as teammates Anton Volchenkov (24), of Russia, and Chris Phillips, back, battle against Florida Panthers' Gregory Campbell, left, and Anthony Stewart (57) during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Ottawa on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Sean Kilpatrick, The Canadian Press)

The Florida Panthers didn't finish the road trip the way that they had hoped as they dropped their second straight decision, a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators. They finished the three game road trip with just one victory (1-2-0). The Senators are currently the best team in the NHL, leading the league with 16 points (8-1-0) on the young season.

There were three bright spots for the Panthers in goaltender Tomas Vokoun and forward Richard Zednik. Despite giving up four goals, Vokoun stopped 43 shots including several two-on-one Senator breaks. Zednik scored the only goal for the Panthers, a powerplay tally in the second period for his second of the year, and caused havoc all over the ice, getting several more opportunities.

The best news of the night came off the ice as tests taken at the Ottawa Civic Hospital on Panthers forward David Booth came back negative. Booth was drilled from behind 4:56 into the second period by Senators defenseman Anton Volchenkov and was taken off on a stretcher. He flew back on the team's charter.

---

OTTAWA (AP) -Ray Emery made himself right at home in goal for the Ottawa Senators.

Making his first regular-season NHL start since offseason wrist surgery, Emery made 31 saves to help the Senators beat the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Saturday night.

"I thought the team played really well and I felt pretty good in there. Kind of like I expected," Emery said. "It's a situation where I know the team is going to play well, so I just have to play solid so it makes it easier to come back from an injury. It was a welcome change to get back in a game."

Before returning to the NHL, Emery played two games last weekend for the Senators' AHL affiliate in Binghamton, stopping 80 of 86 shots. He'll have to wait a week for his next start, with the Senators off until facing the New Jersey Devils at the new Prudential Center in Newark next Saturday.

Mike Fisher and Shean Donovan scored second-period goals for the Senators, and Christoph Schubert and Daniel Alfredsson scored in the third.

The Panthers got their lone goal on a power play in the second period when Richard Zednik stuffed a loose puck between Emery and the goal post.

"The main focus was to get pucks on net, get a lot of traffic and hopefully get a couple by him," Panthers forward Anthony Stewart said. "We really didn't stick to the game plan. We stuck in there early but their guns took over towards the end."

Tomas Vokoun made 43 saves for Florida.

Game Highlights
Starting Lineups
Panthers		Senators
McLean	C	Fisher
Campbell	LW	Schubert
Horton	RW	Neil
Bouwmeester	D	Redden
Allen	D	Meszaros
Vokoun	G	Emery
Stat of the Game
Despite four goals allowed, Tomas Vokoun still had a .918 save percentage as stopped 43 of the 47 Senators shots.
3 Stars
1. Chris Neil  2. Ray Emery  3. Christoph Schubert

Senators rookie Nick Foligno left in the second period after getting hit from behind into the boards by Panthers defenseman Branislav Mezei.

A penalty was coming on the play, but Fisher scored at 2:09 to give the Senators a 1-0 lead. Foligno had a neck sprain and didn't return.

After the Senators took a 2-0 lead on Donovan's first goal of the season at 3:11, Senators defenseman Anton Volchenkov was assessed a major penalty for hitting from behind and a game misconduct when he ran David Booth into the end boards.

Booth stayed on the ice for several minutes before being taken off on a stretcher. He was conscious and alert and able to move his arms and legs, but was taken to the Ottawa Civic Hospital as a precautionary measure.

Zednik scored on the ensuing power play at 5:29.

After scoring at least a point in the first eight games, Jason Spezza was pointless.

"I thought our line was pretty good. We've had worse games and gotten points and tonight we played pretty good and didn't get one," Spezza said. "The most important thing is we're 8-1 and we've had a god first stretch to the season."

Notes: Dany Heatley, Chris Kelly and Andrej Meszaros have played in all of the Senators' 173 regular-season games since the NHL returned from the lockout in 2005-06. ... Panthers forward Olli Jokinen has played in 302 consecutive games. ... The Senators are 7-0 when they score first and 0-1 when the opposition scores first.