Sergei Bobrovsky makes 18 stops, Panthers top Senators

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Sergei Bobrovsky was perfect. The rest of the Florida Panthers were just tough.

Patric Hornqvist and Ryan Lomberg scored 12 seconds apart in the third period, Bobrovsky made 18 saves for his 36th career shutout and the Panthers beat the Ottawa Senators 3-0 on Thursday night to snap a three-game slide.

Mason Marchment had a goal and an assist for the Panthers, and Hornqvist also had an assist. All three Florida goals were of the gritty variety from inside the crease, on a night where tempers flared with 19 penalties — four of them misconducts.

And Hornqvist said it was the sort of game Florida better be ready to see again.

"That's what the playoffs are all about," Hornqvist said.

Anton Forsberg stopped 45 shots for Ottawa, including 37 of the first 38 he faced. But Hornqvist batted home a rebound for Florida’s second power-play goal of the night and a 2-0 lead early in the third, Lomberg got his goal after a shot squirted through Forsberg’s pads, and from there the only drama left was to see if Bobrovsky would get the shutout.

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Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) stops a shot by Ottawa Senators right wing Connor Brown (28) during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 3, 2022, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Bobrovsky is from Russia, his hometown of Novokuznetsk about 2,300 miles east of Moscow. The war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine is now in its second week, and Panthers coach Andrew Brunette said he talks with Bobrovsky regularly to find out how he's handling news from home.

"In our conversations, he's trying to focus on hockey," Brunette