The Florida Panthers, already battling a significant injury list, faced a tough test against a determined Ottawa Senators team on Thursday night. The result was a frustrating 5-1 loss in Canada's capital, as the shorthanded Cats couldn't match the intensity of a Senators squad fighting for its playoff life.

Ottawa set the tone early, capitalizing on a Florida penalty to open the scoring. A Jake Sanderson shot took a fortunate deflection off Drake Batherson, beating Sergei Bobrovsky less than seven minutes into the game. The Senators doubled their lead later in the first when Fabian Zetterlund finished a slick play in the slot.

Despite a stronger second period where they controlled the shot count, the Panthers couldn't solve Senators goaltender Linus Ullmark, heading into the final frame down 2-0. Any hope of a comeback was quickly dampened in the third, as Artem Zub hammered home a rebound just over three minutes in to make it 3-0.

Florida finally broke through late, with Jesper Boqvist snapping a wrist shot past Ullmark to spoil the shutout bid. A desperate push with the goalie pulled backfired, however, leading to two quick Ottawa goals—including an empty-netter from Claude Giroux and Zetterlund's second of the night—sealing the 5-1 final.

The Panthers now turn their focus to their final road game of the season in Toronto, looking to regroup and finish strong despite the challenging circumstances.