Both teams were hoping for a win to keep their fading playoff hopes alive. For much of the game, the Senators were the team that wanted it more, and when they didn’t, Mads Søgaard was up to the task in net. The Sens got goals from Brady Tkachuk, Erik Brännström, Alex DeBrincat, Tim Stützle, and an empty-netter from Shane Pinto to hand the Panthers their fourth-straight loss in a 5-2 game. Gustav Forsling had both goals for the Panthers, and Sergei Bobrovsky took the loss.
The Sens raced out to a 2-0 lead in the opening frame, thanks to goals from Brady Tkachuk — on a great feed from Thomas Chabot — and then from Erik Brännström on the powerplay.