Eliminated Panthers trying to keep Senators out of playoffs

It's been more than a decade since the Ottawa Senators reached the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

Two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida is trying to keep it that way.

Ottawa (41-27-40, 92 points), 3-1 on a current five-game homestand, hosts the short-handed Panthers (37-37-4, 78 points) on Thursday.

The Senators missed seven straight postseasons before qualifying for the playoffs last year. Nick Cousins, who won a Stanley Cup with Florida in 2024, told NHL.com how the city is alive with playoff fever.

"It's certainly the best time of year. You can feel the buzz in the city ... it's an exciting time right now," Cousins said.

Jake Sanderson had two goals for the first time in his career, and Brady Tkachuk had four assists as the Senators throttled the Tampa Bay Lightning 6-2 on Tuesday.

It was the second time in three days that Ottawa pounded a division leader in the Eastern Conference following a 6-3 victory over Carolina on Sunday.

Sanderson recently returned to the Senators' lineup after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury. The fourth-year defenseman set a new career high with 13 goals as Ottawa held firm in the Eastern Conference's second wild-card slot.

The Senators sit two points ahead of Columbus and three points ahead of both Detroit and the New York Islanders going into action Wednesday.

Tim Stutzle had a goal and two assists, and Jordan Spence and Fabian Zetterlund also scored for Ottawa, while Drake Batherson had two assists and Linus Ullmark made 28 saves against Tampa Bay.

"There's an excitement and an energy (here right now)," veteran forward Lars Eller told NHL.com. "We're in a fantastic position ... every game matters, it matters a lot. It just makes it inspiring to go to work."

The Panthers will look to capture some of that inspiration after dropping the first three games of a five-game road trip, including a 4-3 shootout loss to the Canadiens in Montreal on Tuesday.

Cole Reinhardt, Eetu Luostarinen and Carter Verhaeghe scored for Florida, which is 3-6-1 in its last 10 games. After qualifying for the playoffs each of the past six seasons, including reaching the Stanley Cup Finals the last three and hoisting the past two cups, injuries have derailed the Panthers' season, which will conclude without a postseason trip.

The Panthers have lost nearly 500 man-games due to injury this year. The alarming trend continued against Montreal as Dmitry Kulikov suffered a broken finger in the third period.

He is the third Florida player to suffer that exact injury in the past few weeks, joining Evan Rodrigues and Aaron Ekblad.

"It's the standard injury here now," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "It's just unbelievable what these guys have been through."

Daniil Tarasov made 29 saves in the loss to the Canadians. He was in goal the last time Ottawa and Florida faced off last month, making 23 saves in a 6-3 Panthers victory.

In fact, the Senators are one of the few teams Florida has consistently beaten this season, winning each of the three previous meetings. The Panthers can sweep the season series and dent Ottawa's playoff dreams Thursday.

--Field Level Media