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Robitaille, Senators snap seven-game slide, edge Panthers

Dec 6, 2007 - 5:11 AM SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- Randy Robitaille and the Ottawa Senators had had enough of a long losing skid.

Robitaille scored twice as the Senators snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 5-4 triumph over the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

Rookie Nick Foligno, Mike Fisher and Jason Spezza each had a goal and an assist for Ottawa, which ended its longest slide since losing seven straight from February 22-March 9, 1996.

The Senators picked the right opponent against which to post their first win in two weeks. Ottawa has won six straight against Florida by a combined 29-11 margin and is 20-5-1 in the series since the start of the 2000-01 season.

"Somehow, we found a way to get over the hump tonight," Senators coach John Paddock said. "We got rewarded for a good effort. This was a building block, for sure."

Robitaille and the Senators ended the night early for Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

After a turnover in the offensive zone, Robitaille corralled the puck along the right wing boards before skating in and wristing a shot past Vokoun at 6:48 in the first period.

"It's nice to score and make a difference, but it really doesn't matter who scored tonight," Robitaille said. "The win was what's important."

Just 22 seconds later, after another giveaway by the Panthers, Fisher gained possession and fired a blast that beat the netminder to the stick side to double the lead. It was Fisher's first tally in 10 games and caused Vokoun to be lifted and replaced by Craig Anderson.

"We had to shake up the troops," Panthers coach Jacques Martin said. "We were down two goals to none, and I just thought we needed to change things."

Vokoun allowed two goals on just five shots.

After the Panthers tied it at 2-2 on goals by captain Olli Jokinen and blue-liner Steve Montador, Foligno put the Senators ahead for good.

Defenseman Andrej Meszaros took a shot from just inside the blue line that was deflected in by Foligno at 7:06 of the middle period for a 3-2 edge. It was the rookie's third goal of the campaign and first since November 1 against Atlanta.

"It's just been awesome to be a part of this," Foligno said. "I was fortunate to be around the net when the play developed. It's really great to contribute to a win like this."

Spezza scored with a man advantage at 7:08 of the third, when he put a no-look shot between the pads of Anderson to give the Senators a two-goal bulge.

"We've been close, but we hadn't been able to finish off wins," Spezza said. "Sometimes you just put it on net and hope for the best."

After Florida again cut its deficit to one on a tally by David Booth midway through the final session, Robitaille received a pass from Spezza on the doorstep and swatted the puck into the net with 5:24 left to make it 5-3.

"You have to go out there and play a complete game," Robitaille said. "The effort late is just as important as the effort early in games like this."

Celebrating his 29th birthday, Jokinen netted his second goal of the game with 15 seconds remaining. But it was not enough for the Panthers, who suffered their third straight loss.

"You're definitely disappointed, but you have to look at the positives," Jokinen said. "I thought our work ethic was there. They just capitalized on their chances. That's a good offensive team."

Ray Emery stopped 21 shots for Ottawa, while Anderson made 24 saves for Florida in relief of Vokoun.

"We just have to refocus and get ourselves back together," Martin said. (The three straight home losses) have been tough. We score four goals in our building, and that should be enough to win the hockey game."