In Sunrise Saturday, James Reimer made 38 saves to help the Florida Panthers to a 1-0 win over the Ottawa Senators.
The win pushed the Panthers to a record of 15-16-3 and have won three straight, a unique feat for the Panthers this season.
“I think it’s just a matter of settling in,” Reimer said after the win in his ninth straight start. “I think that’s helped me, to keep it super simple. I just felt good the last couple of games and seeing the puck. When it comes down to a game like tonight with a shutout, obviously a lot of things have to go your way. There were a couple of posts and a couple of big blocks when guys had open nets. Anytime you get a shutout, it’s indicative of how hard your teammates work in front of you.”
Jonathan Huberdeau scored the game’s only goal early in the middle frame.
“[Huberdeau] is playing with a lot of passion the last couple games,” Panthers head coach Bob Boughner said. “Sometimes it’s hard to be consistent every night for 82 games … when he moves his feet, he’s a heck of a hockey player. I just like the passion he’s been playing with the last couple days.”
Jonathan Huberdeau scored the only goal in a 1-0 Florida win over the Ottawa Senators Saturday night – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The shutout did not come easy for Reimer who had to make 18 saves in the final frame to preserve the win.
“I think In the first two periods what was missing was that crash to the net,” Boucher said. “We played desperate in the third period. If we would have had that second like we had the third, we would have given ourselves a chance. Does it mean we win? Not necessarily; if the goalie played like he did in the third period, you might still get the same result.
“Definitely, guys didn’t quit. Guys pushed, and in that third period you saw the guys wanted it real bad but couldn’t get that goal.”
[WATCH: All Senators vs. Panthers highlights]
Mike Condon made 37 saves for the Sens in the loss.
“You have to give credit to Reimer,” Condon said. “He made 10 really, really great saves that could easily have been goals. They had their chances too. It was just an example of one of those goalie battles tonight that we came out on the wrong end of. It’s always frustrating.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.