The Senators Had Something to Prove vs. Tkachuk & Did They Ever

The Ottawa Senators decisively defeated the Florida Panthers 5-1 on Wednesday night during former captain Brady Tkachuk's first return to Ottawa. Although Tkachuk opened the scoring for Florida on a power play assisted by his brother Matthew, Ottawa rallied with five unanswered goals from Tim Stützle, Claude Giroux, Shane Pinto, Warren Foegele, and Stephen Halliday to improve their record to 7-3-0.

Professor Press Box argues that the Senators succeeded by focusing on the game rather than the hostility surrounding Tkachuk, who was booed and had jerseys thrown onto the ice. Physical tensions erupted in the third period with multiple scrums and a fight between Sam Bennett and Ridly Greig. The victory was tempered by an apparent injury to Ottawa goaltender Linus Ullmark, who was replaced by Sam Ersson.