Home Talk 2 Us Instagram
Recap
 
  • PRINT
  • RSS
Senators 5, Panthers 1
Associated Press

OTTAWA (AP) - Bobby Butler and Craig Anderson have injected a bit of new life into the previously listless Ottawa Senators.

Butler scored twice, Anderson made 23 saves, and Ottawa ended a 10-game home losing streak with a 5-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday night.

Jason Spezza had a goal and two assists and Ryan Shannon had a goal and an assist. Milan Michalek also scored for the Senators, who had not won at Scotiabank Place since Dec. 26.

Ottawa, which is last in the Eastern Conference with 49 points, had gone 0-7-3 at home since a Boxing Day victory over Pittsburgh gave the Senators their last consecutive wins.

"It feels good to get the back-to-back wins," said Butler, one of eight players in Ottawa's lineup who have played for AHL Binghamton this season. "It's exciting in the locker room and I think the guys had fun tonight."

Anderson won his second start in a row since the Senators acquired him from Colorado on Friday in a trade for goalie Brian Elliott. The former Panthers goalie made 47 saves in his Ottawa debut on Saturday night, turning aside three shootout attempts to secure a 1-0 win in Toronto for his first shutout of the season.

"When I came in here the room was great, it was very positive," Anderson said. "Guys didn't get down on themselves or their teammates, from what I could see right when I came in. You would never have known that they were on a losing streak."

Butler, who has five goals in his past five games, scored midway through the first. He added his second of the game midway through the second to give Ottawa its second two-goal lead.

"I just need to keep playing as I can and keep putting the puck towards the net, and hopefully good things will keep happening," Butler said.

Chris Higgins scored his 11th goal for Florida, which has lost four of five. Scott Clemmensen stopped 29 shots.

"We just didn't have enough in the offensive end tonight," Higgins said. "We let them skate out of the zone a little bit too easy and didn't put enough pressure on their goalie. It seems like we had one shot and they were out of the zone."

Panthers right wing Jack Skille left the game in the second with a high ankle sprain.

Ottawa's Chris Neil also left midway through the second. He suffered a lower-body injury and did not return.

Butler gave the Senators a 1-0 lead 11:13 in when his backhand went in off Panthers defenseman Mike Weaver.

Shannon made it 2-0 when he beat Clemmensen for his sixth goal of the season early in the second.

Clemmensen got an assist when Higgins scored at 4:18 to draw Florida within 2-1.

Butler restored the Senators' two-goal lead with an unassisted effort at 10:38.

Michalek made it 4-1 with his 15th goal 16:49 into the third. Spezza scored Ottawa's fifth goal, his 11th, at 18:38.

NOTES: Clemmensen fell to 3-1 against the Senators. ... Anderson went 89 minutes, 18 seconds into his Ottawa career before allowing his first goal. ... The Senators are 10-16-5 at home.


Three star selections
1st:   BOBBY BUTLER
2nd:   JASON SPEZZA
3rd:   RYAN SHANNON
Winning Goaltender
Craig Anderson

Losing Goaltender
Scott Clemmensen

 

OUR PARTNERS
Pillar Partner
 

SSE GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK
TICKETS
2012-13 Ticket Plans
3D Seat Maps
Group Tickets
Duffy's Sky Club
Premium Seating
Ticketmaster
Ticket Exchange
Season Seat Owners
BB&T Center
Panther Pass
TEAM
Roster
In The System
2011-12 Transactions
2011-12 Injury Report
Den Of Honor
Front Office
Redline Lady Panthers
SCHEDULE/STATS
Schedule
Past Schedule/Results
Player Stats
Standings
G-By-G Breakdown
Team Comparisons
Season In Review
vs All Teams
NEWS
Recent News
Community News
Blogs: GM Journal
Blogs: MY 360
Blogs: Peeke's Points
Blogs: VanMurph's
View
Players On The Move
Panthers Insider
MULTIMEDIA
Panthers Vision Online
Photo Galleries
Wallpapers
Panthers Browser
Panthers Twitter
Panthers Facebook
Panthers Youtube
FAN ZONE/OTHER
Message Boards
Fan Development
Foundation
Promotions
Hockey 101
Stanley C. Panther
Booster Club

ABOUT US
Suggestions
Contact Us
Employment
Map & Parking
Store
FloridaPanthers.com is the official Web site of the Florida Panthers. Florida Panthers and floridapanthers.com are trademarks of Sunrise Sports & Entertainment. NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2013 Sunrise Sports & Entertainment and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved. AdChoices