When the Florida Panthers traded a first-round pick for Claude Giroux last Saturday, they envisioned the All-Star forward helping them fill some of the few gaps they had on their offense.
High on the list was his ability to win faceoffs.
With the Panthers on the verge of a frustrating loss to the Ottawa Senators, the 34-year-old Canadian’s faceoff prowess set up a game-tying goal in the final three minutes, ultimately forcing overtime and giving Florida a chance to win, 4-3 in a shootout.
With star goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on the bench and extra attacker on the ice for the Panthers, Florida got an offensive-zone faceoff and sent Giroux out to the dot. The puck went down and Giroux was first to it, batting it back to star center Aleksander Barkov, who fired a slap shot past Anton Forsberg to tie the game at 3-3 with 2:16 remaining.
After a scoreless overtime, Barkov delivered the game-winner in the shootout, too. Forsberg stopped Giroux on the first attempt of the shootout, then Barkov flipped a backhand shot past the Senators goaltender to give the Panthers the lead.
With a chance to win the game, Bobrovsky hung back in his net and denied star left wing Brady Tkachuk to seal the victory. After giving up three goals on the first 10 shots he faced, Bobrovsky stopped nine in a row to end regulation, all three he saw in overtime and then all three again in the shootout.
Through two games with their revamped lineup, the Florida is still trying to find its usual rhythm with their trade-deadline additions in the mix, but keeps flashing positive signs, especially from Giroux.
Giroux’s faceoff ability got the Panthers four more good looks in the final minute — he won four straight faceoffs, leading to four shots on goal — and earned Florida one point in the standings by getting the game to overtime. He also got credit for a secondary assist on Barkov’s game-tying goal and had the primary assist on winger Anthony Duclair’s second-period goal to start the comeback.
Still, the Panthers only squeaked out a one-goal win against the last-place Montreal Canadiens on Thursday in the first game with Giroux, and defensemen Ben Chiarot and Robert Hagg in the lineup, and fell behind 3-0 in the first 26:47 in Ottawa.
The Panthers’ start was unusual. They dominated possession like they usually do and outshot Ottawa, 19-8, with a 32-21 edge in total shot attempts, yet they trailed 2-0 because the Senators actually finished the first period with a 16-14 advantage in scoring chances and an 8-6 advantage in high-danger chances. It wasn’t because of some penalty discrepancy, either: Only one of Ottawa’s chances came on their late-period power play. With the three newcomers playing in only their second game and star defenseman Aaron Ekblad missing his second straight with a right knee injury, Florida simply didn’t generate the sort of high-quality rush chances it’s used to and gave up too many on the other end.
With 13:13 left in the second period, Ottawa scored their third goal to take a 3-0 lead, squeaking a puck past Bobrovsky after a bad defensive-zone giveaway by star defenseman MacKenzie Weegar.
At the time, the Senators had just 10 shots on goal and nine were on high-danger chances.
The Panthers started their comeback bid on the power play. In his first game back in Ottawa since he left for Florida as a free agent back in 2019, Duclair received a warm reception from 17,201 at the Canadian Tire Centre, then rocketed a one-timer past Forsberg and delivered a giant fist pump as he cut Ottawa’s lead to 3-1 with a power-play goal.
A little more than a minute later, Patric Hornqvist cut the Senators’ lead in half when he drove down the left side and got stopped by Forsberg, but stuck with the play even as he went behind the net and flipped the puck off the goalie’s back. Although the initial call was no goal, a lengthy review determined Forsberg couldn’t keep the puck out of the net.
