Panthers score four goals in 11:40 span to vault past Ottawa Senators; Tkachuk has sixth straight game with a goal

By TIM REYNOLDS

SUNRISE — Matthew Tkachuk scored for a sixth consecutive game and added two assists, sparking a four-goal second period that lifted the Florida Panthers to a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.

Aleksander Barkov had a goal and an assist while Sam Bennett, Gustav Forsling and Anton Lundell also scored for the Panthers, who got 26 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky to win for the fifth time in their last six games.

Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa, which got 43 saves from Linus Ullmark. It was the third time the Tkachuk brothers — soon to be USA Hockey teammates in the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament — had goals in the same game.

If Matthew Tkachuk scores in the first game back from the break, at home against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday, Feb. 22, he will set a personal best with a seventh consecutive game with at least one goal.

Down 1-0, the Panthers piled up their four second-period scores in a span of 11:40 to salt away the game.

Takeaways

Panthers: Florida had a four-goal period for the fourth time this season, also doing it on Oct. 8 against Boston (first), Nov. 30 against Carolina (third) and Jan. 25 at San Jose (second).

Key moment

Sam Reinhart assisted on Matthew Tkachuk’s go-ahead power play goal in the second period for his 600th NHL point. He’s the third current Panthers player to reach 600; Barkov and Tkachuk are the others.

Key stat

It was the fifth time Matthew Tkachuk had three points in a game against his brother. There have been 11 multi-point games in Tkachuk vs. Tkachuk matchups; Matthew has nine of them.

Up next

With the 4 Nations break, both teams are off until Feb. 22. The Senators play host to Montreal that night, and the Panthers play host to Seattle.

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AP NHL: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL