Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) takes the puck down the ice passed Ottawa Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven (43) during the third period of a game on Florida Panthers Pride Night on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. The Florida Panthers won 6-3.
Alie Skowronski
askowronski@miamiherald.com
The Florida Panthers made franchise history on Tuesday night and, for at least one more night, mathematically kept their faint dreams of reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs alive.
Noah Gregor scored the fastest goal to begin a game in franchise history, Mackie Samoskevich followed shortly after to give Florida its fastest two goals to begin a game in franchise history, and the Panthers never looked back in a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators at Amerant Bank Arena.
Just how dominant of a start was it?
Gregor’s goal 8 seconds after the opening faceoff was the fastest in franchise history, breaking the mark of 10 seconds set by Johan Garpenlov on Oct. 17, 1996, and then matched by Aleksander Barkov on April 5, 2016.
Florida Panthers left wing A.J. Greer (10) celebrate his goal with right wing MacKie Samoskevich (11) and center Eetu Luostarinen (27) celebrates during the first period of a game against the Ottawa Senators on Florida Panthers Pride Night on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. The Florida Panthers scored 5 goals in the first period. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com
Samoskevich’s power-play goal that put Florida up 2-0 came 66 seconds into regulation. It beat the Panthers’ previous record for fastest two goals by more than 30 seconds — a mark of 97 seconds set by Nick Cousins and Dmitry Kulikov on April 4, 2024, against (fittingly enough) Ottawa.
The Panthers (36-35-3) were up 5-0 on Ottawa (38-26-10) after the first period, with Carter Verhaeghe scoring twice and A.J. Greer adding a tally in between the Verhaeghe goals. It was just the second time in franchise history Florida scored at least five goals in the opening period; the Panthers scored seven goals (the overall franchise record for most goals in any period) in the opening 20 minutes of their eventual 9-5 win over the Montreal Canadiens on March 16, 2023.
Defenseman Seth Jones and winger Matthew Tkachuk each had three assists in the opening frame. Jones became the third defenseman in Panthers history to record three assists in a period, tying Radko Gudas (April 13, 2023) and Bryan McCabe (March 3, 2010).
Ottawa starting goaltender Linus Ullmark was pulled for James Reimer after the fifth goal in the first period.
Florida needed that early scoring barrage after Ottawa attempted to mount a comeback.
The Senators scored twice in the second period, with Drake Batherson and Jordan Spence beating Panthers goaltender Daniil Tarasov in the middle frame. Tkachuk scored for Florida in between those goals to make it a 6-2 Panthers lead heading into second intermission.
Michael Amadio cut Florida’s lead to 6-3 4:29 into the third period. Ottawa then had a five-minute power play with 8:34 left to play when Gregor received a match penalty for elbowing Ottawa’s Carter Yakemchuk in the head. A Gustav Forsling penalty almost four minutes into the extended penalty kill put Florida at a six-on-three disadvantage for the final 1:04 of that stretch after Ottawa pulled Reimer from the net for an extra attacker. The Panthers killed the penalties and held on for the win.
Tarasov finished with 22 saves.
Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) laughs with his brother Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) during the third period of a game on Florida Panthers Pride Night on Tuesday, March 31, 2026, at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla. The Florida Panthers won 6-3. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com
It was enough to mathematically keep the Panthers in the hunt for a playoff spot even though realistically those dreams are already long gone.
Florida would have been officially eliminated on Tuesday with a regulation loss; there was a scenario where the Panthers would have been knocked out if they only logged one point against the Senators as well.
But by getting both points, Florida now has 75 points with eight games left on its schedule. If the Panthers somehow run the table, they would finish with 91 points. The Columbus Blue Jackets entered the day in the Eastern Conference’s final wild card spot with 88 points.
They live to fight for at least one more game. The Panthers cap their penultimate homestand of the season Thursday against the Boston Bruins (7 p.m., Scripps Sports).
This story was originally published March 31, 2026 at 9:45 PM.
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Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.