3 Takeaways from the Florida Panthers & Ottawa Senators Game 02/08/2025

The Tkachuk Bowl was as advertised in the second of three meetings of Florida and Ottawa. The first time around, in the second game of the season, Ottawa took the win, and Barkov got injured, so it was a wash of a game on the Panther’s side. However, Florida got their revenge this time and no one left the game injured more importantly. The Panthers had five different goal scorers from three of their forward lines, and the defensemen got in on the action as well. The defense shut down everything for Ottawa once the third period rolled around. Heading into the Four Nations break, the Panthers have kicked things up a gear and are looking like the playoff team from last season.

5 Goals 4 Nations:

It’s been well-advertised since the full rosters were announced that Florida has the most players going to the Four Nations tournament, with at least one player on each roster. Finland boasts the most Panther Players at four, Canada has two, and USA & Sweden both have one. With the tournament looming, the Cats representatives showed up and showed out against Ottawa. Despite giving up a power-play goal to Brady Tkachuk in the first period on a shot that squeaked through Bob’s pads, the Panthers answered back with fury in the second frame. Matthew Tkachuk answered with his own power-play goal after the Senators gave him plenty of time and space to work with. His shot went in on the far side of Ullmark, bounced off the post, and in for the 1-1 tie; Reinhart and Barkov with the assists. Just over five minutes later a laser of a shot from Tkachuk got deflected by Barkov and bounced in for the 2-1 lead with Verhaeghe on the secondary assist. That play started with Reinhart getting tangled up with Greig, and once he’d gotten out of it, Sam broke into the zone with his teammates in tow and a delayed penalty to boot for the 6v5 man advantage. A great defensive play from Forsling got the puck to Schimdit, who then passed it back to Forsling on the breakout. Gus opted to skate it in himself to the slot and his wrister beat Ullmark on the glove side. Rodrigues broke into the zone and passed the puck to Tkachuk, who was driving down the center. Tkachuk then passed it to Bennett, who let go a huge one-timer shot that went in top shelf from the faceoff circle and a 4-1 lead coming out of the second period. In the final period, Lundell scored the rare short-handed empty net goal to seal the 5-1 win and tie the franchise record for short-handed goals. Every player that scored for the Panthers will be playing in the Four Nations Faceoff, and the Cats get goals from each team that will be in the tournament: Tkachuk (USA), Barkov (FIN), Forsling (SE), Bennett (CAN), and Lundell (FIN).

Shutdown Defense:

The Panthers’ defense continues to get better as the season has progressed. Much like last season Florida’s really starting to hit their stride in the month of February. Although there are fewer games this month than last year, in every single one, the Panthers’ have dominated teams for the majority of the game. Against the Senators, Florida played one of their best games of the season while putting in a complete team effort, as Bobrovsky highlighted during his post-game interview. Bob had a fantastic night himself, putting up a .963 SV% and 26 saves on 27 shots. He even threw in a highlight reel save for good measure as he robbed Brady Tkachuk of a goal in the second period. Bob dropped his stick and made an impressive blocker save on B. Tkachuk’s shot to keep the Panther lead before the Cats extended it beyond a one-goal game. The Florida defense didn’t give up much to Ottawa, especially in the third period. While the Senators did get a few good scoring chances, Bobrovsky shut the door after allowing the initial goal. While I still think it’s likely that Florida targets a defenseman at the trade deadline right now, the full team effort is rock solid, with everyone doing their part to contribute.

Ramping Up Playoff Style:

I said early in the season that around this time of year would be the true assessment of where the team is at. Right now, the big-name players are doing big-name player stuff, the goaltending is extremely solid, and the Panthers look playoff-ready. In contrast to last season, over their last six games, they’ve dominated teams in the first period, even in the loss to Washington. Last year, they were known for their third-period proficiency, and that’s still very much there, but Florida’s now showing up big in the first periods of matches and just completely taking over. In their last five home games, they’ve outscored opponents 22-5, including back-to-back home shutouts, with one from Knight and one from Bobrovsky. The Cats wanted to go into the break with momentum and put out a huge statement by scoring four goals in just under 12 minutes in the second period against the Senators. The physicality is there, the shot volume is there, and most importantly, the net front presence is there. Tkachuk is on a heater right now with 12 points in his last six games and at least 3 points in 4 of his last eight games. Reinhart passed the 600-point mark and has two goals with seven assists in his last six games. Barkov is up to 3 goals with eight assists in his last six games as well. Verhaeghe in his last 6 games has four goals with four assists. The Panther top line of Verhaeghe-Barkov-Reinhart is carving up opponents much like what fans saw last season with the Barkov-Reinhart duo. Florida’s ramping up for the playoffs, and if they keep playing this way they’re poised to make another deep run to go back-to-back.