Ottawa Senators vs. Florida Panthers Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 3/3/2022

Time: 7 p.m. ET

Venue: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise, FL

Where to watch: ESPN+

DraftKings: Panthers -390, Senators +295

BetMGM: Panthers -400, Senators +310

Caesars: Panthers -435, Senators +330

Senators: 19-28-5

Panthers: 35-13-5

The Ottawa Senators are, to the surprise of no one, not playing well right now and they're starting to fall well below the standings area in terms of being competitive and whatnot.

The Senators have lost four of five and are coming off a tough 5-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in which Ottawa scored its two goals on its first two shots. Unfortunately, Andrei Vasilevskiy is who he is and shut the door in the victory.

Tyler Ennis and Zach Sanford scored, but Matt Murray allowed five goals on 22 shots in what was another bad start for the veteran. The Murray experiment is coming to an emphatic end sooner rather than later with no end in sight.

“We came out the way we had to, we just made some bad puck decisions that ended up in the back of our net,” Senators coach D.J. Smith said.

That tends to feel like the way it is for Ottawa the last number of years. It's still a ways away before Ottawa can be a legit contender. The Sens average only 2.62 goals per game while giving up more than three a game. It hasn't helped that the goaltending has been average, especially with Murray struggling as much as he is. Perhaps a game for Anton Forsberg would be ideal; maybe even an extended run. But we are a team, as Eugene Melnyk would say.

Good lord, are they ever a team.

While they're heavily favored, as expected, the Florida Panthers have lost three in a row coming into this game against Ottawa. More importantly, this is their first game since Feb. 26 in what was a loss against the Edmonton Oilers.

The Panthers were looking like the best team in the league, and could very well get back to that point when the schedule starts to ramp up and more games come in a condensed schedule. Sasha Barkov had two goals in that game, but Derek Ryan's hat trick really put things out of chance for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky looked like the Bob of new by allowing four goals on 22 shots.

Nevertheless, the Panthers still lost their third straight and that's the key here.

“We’re getting shots, we’re getting chances, but the last three games we’ve been one and done,” the Florida captain said. "We’re getting chances and shots, but I think we need a lot more guys at the net.”

The Panthers are still one of the best scoring teams in the league, averaging more than four goals per game. I'll tell you what: If you're looking for a chance for Florida to break out and take some needed aggression on, it might be the Senators. Depending on who's in goal, this could be the time for the likes of Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Reinhart to blow the doors off.

Do not overthink it. Even though Florida's recent play should tempt you to take the hefty money line on Ottawa, the Panthers have had enough time off in between games to blow off some steam and fix things in the proper way. Give me Florida in what might be a dominant effort. Panthers win 5-1

The under is 12-3 when the Senators play division opponents this season.

The Panthers are 21-12 off an over this season.

The under is 10-2 when the Panthers lose by one goal at home.

Senators:

Brady Tkachuk -- Colin White -- Zach Sanford

Alex Formenton -- Tim Stutzle -- Adam Gaudette

Tyler Ennis -- Nick Paul -- Connor Brown

Parker Kelly -- Dylan Gambrell -- Austin Watson

Thomas Chabot -- Nikita Zaitsev

Nick Holden -- Artem Zub

Erik Brannstrom -- Josh Brown

Matt Murray

Panthers:

Carter Verhaeghe -- Aleksander Barkov -- Frank Vatrano

Jonathan Huberdeau -- Sam Bennett -- Anthony Duclair

Mason Marchment -- Anton Lundell -- Sam Reinhart

Ryan Lomberg -- Eetu Luostarinen -- Patric Hornqvist

MacKenzie Weegar -- Aaron Ekblad

Gustav Forsling -- Radko Gudas

Lucas Carlsson -- Brandon Montour

Sergei Bobrovsky

Points: Brady Tkachuk -- 38

Goals: Josh Norris -- 18

Assists: Thomas Chabot -- 23

Goalie: Anton Forsberg -- 11-8-2, 2.79 GAA, .917 SV%

Points: Jonathan Huberdeau -- 75

Goals: Sasha Barkov -- 25

Assists: Jonathan Huberdeau -- 57

Goalie: Sergei Bobrovsky -- 26-6-3, 2.63 GAA, .915 SV%