Ullmark stars in Ottawa debut, Senators beat the Stanley Cup champion Panthers 3-1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Linus Ullmark made 30 saves in his first game for Ottawa, helping the Senators open the season with a 3-1 victory over the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

The Panthers lost captain Aleksander Barkov to an injury late in the third period when he crashed into the end boards.

Tim Stutzle opened the scoring on a first-period power play and put it away in the third with an empty-netter. Shane Pinto also scored for Ottawa in the first period.

With the Senators holding a 2-1 lead late in the third, Ullmark made saves on Anton Lundell, Mackie Samoskevich and Carter Verhaeghe.

Gustav Forsling scored for Florida with 4:12 left, and Sergei Bobrovsky made 29 saves. The Panthers opened the season Tuesday night with a 6-4 home victory over Boston.

Takeaways

Panthers: Florida paid for the slow start, never recovering after falling behind 2-0.

Senators: With better overall defensive play a priority, Ottawa blocked 27 shots.

Key moment

Barkov was hurt while unsuccessfully trying to prevent the empty-net goal. There was no immediate word on the severity of the injury.

Key stat

Ullmark is 10-1-0 in his last 11 starts against Florida.

Up next

Panthers: At Buffalo on Saturday night.

Senators: At Montreal on Saturday.