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Emery makes long-awaited return, Senators cruise past Panthers

Oct 21, 2007 - 3:56 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- The Ottawa Senators may have a goaltending controversy, but it's one they can live with.

Ray Emery made a successful return from wrist surgery, while Shean Donovan and Mike Fisher scored goals to help guide the Senators to 4-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Saturday.

In a reversal of fortune from last season, Emery has watched his goaltending partner Martin Gerber take the over the reigns and catapult to the league lead with six wins.

But last season, Gerber stumbled out of the gate, and it was Emery who took over as the club's No. 1 netminder, leading them to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Making his first start since Game Five of the Finals, Emery showed no rust as he stopped 31 shots to help the Senators to their fifth straight win over the Panthers and 19th in the last 25 meetings between the clubs.

"My wrist felt fine," Emery said. "It's not 100 percent, but it's a big improvement from last year. It's at the point where I know I'm not going to re-injure it. I felt really comfortable in net. The defensemen played well protecting the front of the net and kept the shots to the outside."

"For his first game back, he was really comfortable," Fisher said. "You could see his rebound play was good."

After a scoreless first period, Emery was given early support in the second as Ottawa jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Fisher was able to dig the puck out of a scramble at the left side of the net and sneak a shot between goalie Tomas Vokoun's pads at 2:09.

"Unfortunately, there was a hit from behind there," Fisher said. "When Nick (Foligno) went down, the puck popped out. I got a couple of whacks at it, and the second one found the hole."

The Senators doubled the lead less than a minute later. Donovan was the benefactor of good fortune when his wrist shot from the right side squeezed between the right goalpost and Vokoun's pad at 3:11 to make it 2-0.

Defenseman Christoph Schubert added a power-play goal early in the third and captain Daniel Alfredsson scored on a backhander with 8:59 left to provide the final margin.

"It was a big goal for us in the third," Schubert said. "We got into a pretty good setup on the power play. (Andrej) Meszaros found me open and passed it across. I took the shot and Patrick Eaves was set in front of the net for a screen. The puck found a hole and landed in the net."

"The third goal took the momentum away from us," Florida coach Jacques Martin said. "We were only down two with an awesome opportunity to come back, but they're a good team, and when they scored on the power play, it was too much to overcome."

While Emery was the star of this one, Vokoun looked no worse for wear after returning to the lineup from an ankle injury. He stopped 43 shots, but his efforts were not good enough to stave off the Senators.

Florida pulled within 2-1 as Richard Zednik tallied during a five-minute power play 5:29 into the second. The puck found his stick after deflecting off the skate of a fallen Schubert.

"The goal was my fault," Schubert said. "I apologized to Razor (Emery). I got caught up the ice. It shouldn't have happened, but things happen out there. Other than that, I think we shut them down pretty good."

Senators defenseman Anton Volchenkov drew the major penalty for boarding after hitting Panthers left wing David Booth in the left corner.

Booth, who went head-first into the boards, fell to the ice and lay prone for nearly 10 minutes before being taken off the ice on a stretcher with undisclosed injuries.

"The CAT scan was negative," Martin said. "So he should be all right. I haven't spoken with him because they took him right away to the hospital, but he'll come back with us on the charter. It was an unfortunate hit from behind on the play. Nothing too serious as far as injury."

Ottawa's potent power play went 2-for-5, while Florida connected once on seven chances.