Panthers Senators 1 2 3 OT T Panthers 0 3 1 0 4 Senators 2 0 0 0 2 FLA - M. Goc (7), K. Barch (2), PP - M. Samuelsson (9), J. Skille (4)

OTT - J. Cowen (5), C. Neil (11)



Marcel Goc, Krystofer Barch and Mikael Samuelsson scored second-period goals and the Florida Panthers rallied to beat the Ottawa Senators for the first time in 10 games, 4-2 on Sunday night.



Jack Skille added a goal with 1:26 left, Jose Theodore made 23 saves, and Mike Weaver had two assists to help the Panthers beat the Senators for the first time since a 3-0 victory in Ottawa in January 2010.





FULL RECAP "We have to know that at the end of the day, if we stick with our character and we play the way we're supposed to play that we'll be fine in the end. I think that's what we're just going to plan on doing here."



- Forward Jack Skille



1. Another First Of Falling Behind: It's been like clockwork for the Panthers. Allow the first goal or two of the game and fall behind after one period of play. Florida, in fact, has allowed the first two goals of the game in five of their last six contests and six of their last eight after Jared Cowen and Chris Neil scored a little over five minutes apart in the second half of the period. Cowen's seeing eye goal from the point gave the Sens the lead 13:23 into the period. Then with 1:28 left on the clock, Neil put in a rebound past Jose Theodore after Theodore stopped Jim O'Brien point blank. For a team that was looking to stop a two-game losing streak, not a good start.



2. Guns Ablazing Second: What was said in-between intermissions in the locker room? Whatever it was, it worked. While Ottawa owned the first, the second was all about the Panthers as they scored early and often in turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 advantage heading into the final period. The scoring parade started 33 seconds in as Mike Weaver's point shot was deflected by Marcel Goc up and over Robin Lehner for his seventh of the season. The early goal really helped energize the Panthers attack and they scored again 2:21 later. This time it was Jack Skille finding Krys Barch on a breakaway. The rugged winger made a beautiful move on Lehner and scored off the deke to knot the game. Then with Neil in the box for four minutes for high-sticking, Mikael Samuelsson scored off a feed from Stephen Weiss with 8:57 left on the clock. Advantage Panthers 3-2 after two.



3. Adding Insurance To Stop Streaks: After back and forth games in the opening two periods, the pace slowed down in the third (if only by a little bit). The two teams notched just five shots on net and for the Panthers, one of those went in as Skille raced around the Senators defense and beat Lehner with 1:26 left to play. After that, it was celebration time as the Panthers killed off the rest of the time in securing the win and stopping a two-game losing streak. It was even sweeter since the victory against Ottawa ended a nine-game losing streak to the Sens (0-8-1). It was the first win since January 9, 2010 when the Cats shut out the Sens 3-0. The win also moved the Cats to four points ahead of the Jets in the division race and five points in front of the Capitals.

Memorable twitter posts from the game. @srgrossman: Hockey days don't get any better than a #FlaPanthers win and a #Caps loss. Yippee!



@novamoonlight: Am still bouncing up and down over the #flapanthers win. Yay!



@FDTmusic1: every time i'm in the building the #FlaPanthers do #work. #ADT life is so on point. what a night. time to write some lyrics. #c1ty



@Van_Murph: I just want to say that MIKE WEAVER IS THE MAN!!!! #FlaPanthers #BeWeaveRED



@joanneruimy: @FlaPanthers that was a fun game wow! This is what #FlaPanthers are capable of!!!!!!

Memorable fan posts from the game.

Tanner Woods: WE R THE COMEBACK CATS



Tony Uzzolino: the cats have been giving me heart attacks...i think my girlfriend is bad luck...i've stopped speaking to her while the games are on!!



Veronika Ferra Cassidy: Barch & Skille each made a beautiful goal! Go Panthers!



Lou Doucet: Best second and third period they have had, in a long time.



Matt Krosin: Love hearing the crowd roar and drown out Billy and Goldie...takes me back to the days of the Miami Arena



2. The Panthers allowed the game's first two goals for the sixth time in the last eight games as Jared Cowen and Chris Neil scored first period goals.



2. Mike Weaver surely doesn't get enough love. The defensive defenseman who hates to be mentioned in the paper was the setup man against the Sens as he registered two helpers (Marcel Goc and Krys Barch). That matched a career high for helpers in a game and gives the defenseman a now career-high 16 assists on the season.



3. The middle stanza was all about the Panthers as they scored all three second period goals when Goc, Barch and Mikael Samuelsson all lit the lamp. Trailing 2-0, and eventually winning the game, it was the third time in the last six games the Panthers came back to win after trailing by two.



9. It's been tough skating against the Ottawa Senators the last couple of seasons. In fact, Florida had lost their last nine-straight against Ottawa before Sunday night's victory.



40. Recording an assist on Samuelsson's eventual game-winner in the second period, Brian Campbell registered his 40th apple of the year. Campbell now has 40 or more assists in four of his NHL seasons. He last registered that mark during the 2008-09 season.

