SUNRISE, Fla. — With every save, FLA Live Arena got closer and closer to exploding. Alex Lyon, who was just a few weeks ago an afterthought and now the crux of the Florida Panthers’ late-season push for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, darted from side to side and turned away every one of the Ottawa Senators’ shots on their two-minute, 5-on-3 power play until finally the Panthers poked the puck out of the defensive zone and the crowd rose to its feet to celebrate. Most probably weren’t even aware of just what was developing.
Right around center ice, Nick Cousins hopped out of the penalty box and wound up with the puck behind the defense, and he didn’t waste his chance. He tapped a shot past Mads Sogaard and leaped into Aaron Ekblad’s arms as pandemonium broke out in Sunrise for a five-goal, second-period lead. Florida took punches throughout the entire game Thursday — often quite literally — and every time answered to blow out the Senators, 7-2.
Every game is close to a must win for the Panthers (41-31-7) at this point and this one had a bit of everything. There were 144 penalty minutes, four fights and even a pair of ejections. There was an avalanche of goals in the first two periods for Florida, scoring seven times on 19 shots before ultimately finishing the game with 30. Behind it all, there was Lyon, who made his fifth straight start with star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky still battling an illness, and made 56 saves — the most in a regulation game in franchise history — despite constant bumps and barbs from Ottawa.
