SUNRISE, Fla. _ Aleksander Barkov took a pass from Bogdan Kiselevich late in the second period, drove past the Ottawa Senators' back line and was home free.
He dribbled the puck with his stick a couple times before blasting it past goalie Mike McKenna and add to the Florida Panthers scoring onslaught.
Barkov's second goal of the game highlighted a five-goal second-period for the Panthers, who closed out their three-game homestand at the BB&T Center with a 5-1 win over the Senators on Sunday. The Panthers (6-5-3) have now won four consecutive games dating back to their second game in Helsinki, Finland, on Nov. 2 as part of the NHL Global Series. They had just two wins in their first 10 games before this run.
"We can be this type of team," Barkov said. "We can be a really tough team to play against at home and on the road. ... That's what we're doing right now. We feel really confident."
The Panthers trailed 1-0 after the first period when the Senators' Ryan Dzingel scored on a power play goal late in the frame. The Panthers looked sluggish in the opening 20 minutes as they played their second game of a back-to-back. Florida spent most of the period in their zone, trying to fight off an Ottawa offense that came into the game with 61 goals this year _ the second-most in the NHL.
"We simply said we had to get invested emotionally," coach Bob Boughner said. "We were too casual in the first period. We weren't playing heavy enough."
After a few early chances in the second period came up empty, the rout began.
_With 16:55 left in the frame, Barkov took a feed from fellow top-line forwards Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman before slamming in a head-on shot to tie the game. Hoffman has now recorded a point in 12 consecutive games and is one away from tying the Panthers record of 13 set by Pavel Bure in the 1999-2000 season. Dadonov is close behind, recording at least one point in 11 consecutive games.
_With 13:59 left, Jonathan Huberdeau's power play goal on passes from Keith Yandle and Vincent Trocheck gave the Panthers the lead for good. Yandle has now recorded a point in seven consecutive games, setting a franchise record for a point streak by a defenseman.
_Barkov notched his second goal of the game with 5:03 left in the frame for his first multi-goal game of the season. Kiselevich and Hoffman were credited with the assists.
_Troy Brouwer made it 4-1 a little more than a minute later when he tapped in a Colton Sceviour feed from behind the net. Juho Lammikko was credited for the secondary assist on the play, which gave him his first career NHL point. "It's nice to get that one out of the way," Lammikko said. "It's a good feeling after a good homestand."
_Frank Vatrano closed out the second-period scoring with 1:49 left in the frame with assists by Huberdeau and Kiselevich.
To recap: five goals on 22 shots with 11 players recording at least one goal or assist in the process.
"We needed to pick it up and need to start playing the way we played the last couple of games," Barkov said. "I guess we started."
James Reimer was excellent in goal for the Panthers, blocking 33 of 34 shots on goal with the lone goal surrendered coming on that late first-period Senators (7-8-3) power play.
The Panthers will now head out for a six-game, 11-day road trip that starts Tuesday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
