SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) Noah Gregor scored eight seconds into the game to open an early five-goal barrage by Florida, Matthew Tkachuk had his first four-point game since December 2024 and the Florida Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators 6-3 on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
James Reimer replaced Ullmark and stopped 12 of 13 shots.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Players from both teams lined up to shake Kovachik’s hand during a first-period stoppage in play.<\/p>\n
Senators: Host the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Panthers: Host the Boston Bruins on Thursday.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
AP NHL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nhl<\/p>\n
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