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Olesz, Horton lead Panthers over Senators

Oct 23, 2008 - 3:56 AM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- Goals have been hard to come by for the Florida Panthers lately. All it took was some shuffling by coach Peter DeBoer to fix that.

Rostislav Olesz and Nathan Horton scored first-period goals and the Panthers went on to record a 3-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.

Florida entered having scored five goals in its previous three games, with four of those tallies coming from defensemen. In light of the offensive drought, DeBoer moved rookie Michael Frolik onto the first line with Horton and Cory Stillman in Monday's loss to Montreal - a switch that proved to be a winning formula in this contest.

"We took some penalties, and it wasn't a textbook way to hold a lead from a coaching perspective, but there are things we can learn from that," DoBoer said. "We needed a win and the guys showed up tonight ready to play, and that's what won us the game.

"I thought we controlled the game with our forecheck and really took away a lot of time and space and put pressure on them. That's got to be our identity."

Stillman - a former Senator - notched a goal and an assist and Horton's tally gave Craig Anderson all the support he needed as the Panthers posted their first road win in three tries.

"We started out very well, outshooting and outplaying them," Stillman said. "Then I think the ice tilted in the third period and they came on, but our goalie answered the call, and he was probably the first star of the game tonight.

"The jump we got at the start of the game was important. We knew they had firepower, and playing with the lead, you can play a little different. That's what we did tonight."

Getting a rare start in place of Tomas Vokoun, Anderson made 41 saves - including an astounding 26 in the third period - for Florida, which recorded just three shots of its own in the final session.

"It's good to get the first win out of the way," Anderson said. "I just wanted to go out there and battle for the guys and give them a chance to win. We came out flying in the first and we were able to get a good lead right off the bat. After that, it was just holding down the fort.

"We played well, we played our system and the hard work we put in paid off tonight."

After a turnover just inside the offensive zone, Olesz gained possession and skated toward the net before colliding with goaltender Martin Gerber and knocking the puck into the net 4:45 into the first period to open the scoring.

The goal was just the second point in six games this season for the Olesz, who was pleased with the overall performance of his team.

"We wanted to be strong on the forecheck and go after them and play in their zone," the Czech said. "This game will give us some confidence. It was a very good team effort, especially on the penalty kill, and our goalie made some amazing saves at the end."

Horton netted his second goal of the season 48 seconds later to double Florida's lead. Stillman dished the puck to Horton, who fired a wrist shot past Gerber from the left faceoff circle.

"We gave up a lot shots in the third, but we came through, and that's all that matters," Horton said. "We got the win. Anderson played big for us tonight, and after the loss in Montreal, that's what we needed.

"When you score early, everybody gets into the game and we feel like we can win. We battled hard the rest of the way, and it paid off. We got a good result."

Stillman secured the victory with his third tally of the season with 8:03 remaining in the third, when he flipped a backhander off the right goalpost and behind a sprawled Gerber.

Captain Daniel Alfredsson scored a power-play goal 2:23 into the second period and defenseman Filip Kuba extended his points streak to six games with an assist for the Senators, who fell to 1-3-0 on their five-game homestand. Kuba's shot from the point was deflected in front of the net, where Alfredsson collected the puck and slid it under Anderson's pads.

"We got on our heels at the beginning," Alfredsson said. "We started to come out of our end and they got some breaks right away. We played much better in the second and third, but it's hard to win games when you give up two goals at the start of the game."

Entering with a 7-1-1 record and 1.98 goals-against average in nine career games against Florida, Gerber turned aside 18 shots.

The Senators dropped their second straight game and stare at a four-game road trip after hosting the Anaheim Ducks on Friday.

"Every game you lose is frustrating," Alfredsson said. "In professional sports, you have to be spot on every night. If you do something wrong, you don't feel too good. You have to prepare, you have to work and you have to get ready for the next game."