Ottawa @ Florida preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 28, 2019 ) Florida 5, Ottawa 2

The Florida Panthers have not been able to take advantage of a monster nine-game homestand and need to win the final two in order to finish on the positive side, starting with a visit from the improving Ottawa Senators on Monday night. The Panthers have lost three straight, dropping to 3-4-0 during their run of games at the BB&T Center, after giving up the first three goals and suffering a 4-2 loss to Boston on Saturday.

“The last three games you can take chunks out of it, but it’s not even close to being good enough,” Florida coach Joel Quenneville told reporters after Saturday’s setback. “We’re at home. It’s unacceptable.” The Panthers, who are 3-7-0 overall the last 10 games and end the homestand against Dallas on Friday, had one big positive out of the loss to the Bruins when captain Aleksander Barkov got up and was deemed fine after crashing leg first into the boards late in the contest. The Senators earned points in four of their last five games (3-1-1) and left wing Anthony Duclair continued his revival by capping a hat trick in overtime for a 4-3 victory over Columbus on Saturday to push his team-high total to 18 goals - two shy of a career high he recorded in his first full NHL season with Arizona in 2015-16. “He’s getting a lot more opportunity here,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith told reporters. “He’s proven that he continues to score and when you need goals Duke’s the guy to go to. What I’ve liked about him is his work ethic has seriously improved, he’s responsible, he’s a good teammate, he’s a team-first guy.”

TV: 7 p.m. ET, RDS, TSN5 (Ottawa), FS Florida

ABOUT THE SENATORS (14-17-2): Duclair has eight goals and two assists in six games this month to take over the team lead with 25 points - one more than fellow forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who entered Sunday second in the league with a plus-20 rating. Forward Connor Brown has three goals and five points in six December games after managing five points in 16 contests during November. Goalie Craig Anderson (knee) is close to returning to full practice, but Anders Nilsson (9-8-2, .913 save percentage) and Marcus Hogberg (0-1-0, .925) could share the back-to-back with a game at Tampa Bay on Tuesday.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (15-12-5): Barkov was on the ice for practice Sunday, but the big center has been kept off the scoresheet in three straight games to remain second on the team with 36 points behind left wing Jonathan Huberdeau (37). Quenneville mixed up the lines Sunday as Barkov skated with Frank Vatrano and Brett Connolly while Vincent Trocheck centered Huberdeau (499 career games) and Noel Acciari. Sergei Bobrovsky (11-9-4) hasn’t been able to register a victory the last three games, but the 31-year-old Russian goalie has been much better this month with a .951 save percentage in five outings.

OVERTIME

1. Ottawa C Chris Tierney owns five points in six games this month after managing five in 16 contests during November.

2. Florida D Keith Yandle boasts two goals to go along with eight assists in the last eight contests.

3. The Panthers won three of the four meetings last season, but split the two matchups at home.

PREDICTION: Panthers 5, Senators 2