Fabian Zetterlund scores twice as Senators move closer to playoffs, beating Panthers 5-1

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OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Fabian Zetterlund scored a pair of goals and the Ottawa Senators moved closer to securing a playoff berth with a 5-1 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

The Senators hold the second and final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, leading the New York Islanders by three points with three games remaining. Ottawa plays at New York on Saturday. The Senators are two points back of Boston for the first East wild card.

With their third straight win, the Senators (42-27-10) wrapped up their five-game homestand with a 4-1-0 record, with the lone loss coming against Minnesota.

Drake Batherson, Artem Zub and Claude Girot also scored for Ottawa, and Linus Ullmark made 21 saves. Jesper Boqvist scored for the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers, who have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Ottawa added reinforcement to its blueline, with Thomas Chabot returning exactly two weeks after having surgery for a broken arm. Chabot was initially expected to miss four to eight weeks.

Ottawa took a 3-0 lead 3:03 into the third period. Zub grabbed a rebound of a shot by Jake Sanderson and snapped a shot to the far side to beat Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 25 shots.

The Panthers finally solved Ullmark at 14:17 of the third. A.J. Greer found Boqvist at the top of the slot and Boqvist squeezed a shot under Ullmark’s right arm.

Giroux added an empty-netter with 3:17 remaining to put any hope of a comeback out of reach. Nineteen seconds later, Zetterlund scored his second of the game.

The Senators have outscored opponents 17-6 during their three-game winning streak.

Florida recalled defensemen Marek Alscher and Ludvig Jansson from their American Hockey League affiliate. The two made their NHL debuts.

Panthers: At Toronto on Saturday.

Senators: Visit the Islanders on Saturday as they seek to solidify their playoff position.

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