Stolarz gets shutout over Senators, Panthers remain second in division

SUNRISE — Two first period goals from Anton Lundell and Nick Cousins was all the Panthers needed in their 2-0 victory over the Ottawa Senators. 

Florida completed the season sweep of Ottawa (4-0-0) with the win, outscoring the Senators 16-2. 

Anton Lundell scored the game winning goal 12:02 into the contest — his 12th of the season. 

The 22-year-old is hitting a groove at the perfect time with the playoffs just around the corner. In his last four games, he has three goals and four points.

“I want to do the best when the big games start — that’s next week,” Lundell said on his recent form.  “Just trying to do everything I can, every game and try to play as good as I can.”

Anthony Stolarz had 25 saves in his second shutout of the season and picked up a primary assist on Lundell’s game winning goal.

On the power play, Stolarz fired a stretch pass from Florida’s zone to Lundell — setting up the Panthers forward on a breakaway. 

“He passes hard and you know, he got some patience there,” Lundell said of Stolarz. “We were joking we haven’t seen that pass from even our own D (defenseman) this season.”

In his career, Stolarz has four assists — he’s still looking for the goalie goal. 

“It’s exciting, I’d like to add a goal to that,” Stolarz laughed when talking about his assist. “At the end of the day the shutouts are the most important thing — kind of like a team stat. We really strive on being a good defensive team.”

The victory was an important one, not only for the standings but for morale after the Panthers went 1-2-1 on their last road trip. 

With three games left in the regular season, the Panthers remain second in the Atlantic Division with 104 points. The Toronto Maple Leafs trail the Panthers by three points — with a game in hand — for second in the division.

“We just finished the most gruelling two weeks, ten game stretch and we were on the road for the tail end of it,” head coach Paul Maurice said. “You just come home to home cooking and everything’s good and you relax.”

Florida’s last three games before the post season are at home, with the final contest being against Toronto.

 As the standings are now, the Panthers and Leafs would play each other in the first-round.