NHL

Ottawa Senators at Florida Panthers

· National Hockey League
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Matthew Tkachuk has goal and 3 assists, Panthers strike fast and top Senators 6-3

Ottawa Senators vs. Florida Panthers: Game Highlights

Carter Verhaeghe scored two goals and added an assist for Florida, while Seth Jones had three assists — including one on Gregor's history-making goal.

Gregor's goal was the fastest to open a game in Panthers history — two seconds ahead of Johan Garpenlov's goal at the 10-second mark of a game against Colorado in October 1996 — and the fastest to start a game in the NHL this season.

A.J. Greer and Mackie Samoskevich also scored for Florida, while Sam Bennett added two assists and Daniil Tarasov stopped 22 shots for the Panthers.

Drake Batherson, Jordan Spence and Michael Amadio scored for Ottawa, which has gone 0-2-1 in its last three games as it chases a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. Linus Ullmark started and stopped 11 of 16 shots before getting chased after Florida took a 5-0 lead with 5:24 left in the first period.

James Reimer replaced Ullmark and stopped 12 of 13 shots.

Matthew Tkachuk had a goal and three assists in the game. It was the 25th time he's gone head-to-head in the NHL with his brother Brady Tkachuk, the Senators' captain; Matthew Tkachuk's teams have now won 15 of those meetings.

Linesman Brad Kovachik worked regular-season game No. 1,972 of his career — and it'll be the last. The veteran of three decades is retiring, ending a career that saw him work the Stanley Cup Final in five different years, as well as the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Players from both teams lined up to shake Kovachik's hand during a first-period stoppage in play.

Up next Senators: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.

Panthers: Host the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

Regular Season Series

FLA leads series 3-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 0:08 Noah Gregor Goal (3) Snap Shot, assists: Seth Jones (21), Tomas Nosek (2)
Goal 1st Period 1:06 Mackie Samoskevich Goal (8) Snap Shot, assists: Seth Jones (22), Matthew Tkachuk (16)
Goal 1st Period 9:09 Carter Verhaeghe Goal (22) Snap Shot, assists: Matthew Tkachuk (17), Seth Jones (23)
Goal 1st Period 14:02 A.J. Greer Goal (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Eetu Luostarinen (18), Donovan Sebrango (4)
Goal 1st Period 14:36 Carter Verhaeghe Goal (23) Snap Shot, assists: Sam Bennett (30), Matthew Tkachuk (18)
Goal 2nd Period 1:40 Drake Batherson Goal (30) Wrist Shot, assists: none
Goal 2nd Period 12:41 Matthew Tkachuk Goal (13) Snap Shot, assists: Sam Bennett (31), Carter Verhaeghe (30)
Goal 2nd Period 15:14 Jordan Spence Goal (6) Wrist Shot, assists: Tim Stützle (44), Michael Amadio (19)
Goal 3rd Period 4:29 Michael Amadio Goal (13) Snap Shot, assists: Ridly Greig (18), Lassi Thomson (1)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/ott.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originOTT https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/fla.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originFLA
6 Blocked Shots 14
17 Hits 18
4 Takeaways 1
26 Shots 29
0 Power Play Goals 2
5 Power Play Opportunities 3
0.0 Power Play Percentage 66.7
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
34 Faceoffs Won 28
54.8 Faceoff Win Percent 45.2
16 Giveaways 12
3 Total Penalties 5
6 Penalty Minutes 13
Florida Panthers Florida Panthers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Carter Verhaeghe, C Out Apr 15
Sam Bennett, C Out Apr 15
Gustav Forsling, D Out Apr 15
Tomas Nosek, LW Out Apr 15
Seth Jones, D Out Apr 9
Ottawa Senators Ottawa Senators Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Artem Zub, D Day-To-Day Apr 18
Tyler Kleven, D Out Apr 18
Nick Jensen, D Injured Reserve Apr 14

Game Information

Amerant Bank Arena

Location: Sunrise, FL
Attendance: 17,672 | Capacity:

2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Buffalo 50 23 109 9
Tampa Bay 50 26 106 6
Montreal 48 24 106 10
Boston 45 27 100 10
Ottawa 44 27 99 11
Detroit 41 31 92 10
Florida 40 38 84 4
Toronto 32 36 78 14
Full Standings