Hayes nets winning goal, Panthers top Senators 3-2 | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Hayes nets winning goal, Panthers top Senators 3-2

Florida Panthers forward Jimmy Hayes (12) is congratulated by forward Tomas Fleischmann (14) and forward Vincent Trocheck (21) after scoring the game-winning goal against the Ottawa Senators during the third period of an NHL hockey game, Friday, Nov. 28, 2014, in Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers defeated the Senators 3-2. (AP Photo/Joel Auerbach)
Original Publication Date November 28, 2014 - 8:10 PM

SUNRISE, Fla. - The Florida Panthers were finally able to beat former goalie Craig Anderson.

Jimmy Hayes scored the winning goal to lift the Panthers over the Ottawa Senators 3-2 on Friday night.

Sean Bergenheim and Dylan Olsen also scored for the Panthers, and Vincent Trocheck had two assists. Al Montoya made 22 saves in his fourth start of the season. No. 1 goalie Roberto Luongo missed the game because of a lower-body injury sustained Wednesday against Carolina.

The Panthers had a season-high 46 shots and won their second in a row at home.

Anderson, who spent 2006-09 with the Panthers, stopped 43 shots. He came into the game 11-2-1 against the Panthers, including a shutout in their last meeting on Oct. 13. He was especially sharp in the second period when he turned away 16 shots, many of them quality chances.

"It was extremely frustrating. We had point-blank shots on breakaways," said Trocheck, who assisted on the winning goal. "Anderson played great, but luckily we were able to come out on top."

Cody Ceci scored a goal, and Chris Neil had a goal and an assist for Ottawa.

After struggling to get anything past Anderson for most of the game, the Panthers scored two goals in the third to take a 3-2 lead.

Trocheck passed from the bottom of the left circle to Hayes, who skated in on the right side. His wrist shot beat Anderson at 7:31 to make it 3-2.

The Panthers had gotten even just 34 seconds into the third. Bergenheim's shot from the left circle went over Anderson's right shoulder and in off the post.

Anderson was frustrated that his stellar effort was wasted.

"I feel pretty embarrassed right now after that effort that we put out there," Anderson said. "Mentally, we played a team that wasn't in the playoffs and maybe that was our mindset that we should beat them because of that, but we didn't work for it."

Ottawa took a 2-1 lead in the second on Ceci's goal. Neil's shot was blocked but the rebound came out to Ceci in the right circle. He put the puck behind Montoya at 2:41.

The Senators had only four shots in the third period.

"You can't ask your goalie to bail you out every game," Neil said. "(The Panthers) had way too many odd-man rushes. We just weren't on the same page. It was just a brutal game by us."

Montoya played well for the Panthers but the Senators didn't press him late.

"They weren't shooting the puck much," Montoya said. "This is one we wanted to have and we deserved to have."

The Senators went ahead 1-0 on Neil's goal. Eric Condra passed from the right circle across to Neil in front. Neil slapped the puck past Montoya on the glove side at 5:04 of the first period.

The Panthers tied it 47 seconds later. Dylan Olsen took a pass from Trocheck in the high slot, and his wrist shot slid under Anderson's pads for his first goal of the season.

"He (Anderson) was outstanding," Panthers coach Gerard Gallant said. "We worked hard and kept pushing and pushing, and finally a couple pucks got by him. It was probably our best offensive game."

NOTES: Ottawa played its third of five games on the road... Panthers LW Shawn Thornton took a puck to the face and left the game late in the second period but returned in the third. ... Florida RW Scottie Upshall was placed on the injured list because of a lower-body injury. ... Dan Ellis was recalled by Florida from AHL San Antonio on Thursday to back up Montoya.

News from © The Associated Press, 2014
The Associated Press

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