Panthers 6, Senators 2

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) - The Florida Panthers finally beat the Ottawa Senators at home.

Jozef Stumpel and Nathan Horton scored two goals apiece and the Panthers defeated the Senators 6-2 Wednesday night, breaking an eight-game home losing streak to Ottawa.

Martin Gelinas and Rostislav Olesz also scored for the Panthers, and Roberto Luongo had 33 saves to help Florida snap a three-game losing streak.

``We did some of the little things well and that paid off tonight,'' Panthers coach Jacques Martin said.

Peter Schaefer and Antoine Vermette scored for Ottawa and Ray Emery had 32 saves. The loss broke the Senators' five-game winning streak and was Emery's first defeat in five consecutive starts.

``I don't know if we had high hopes for tonight or not but we wanted to win,'' Emery said. ``I don't want to take anything away from them. They played really well and finished us off at the end.''

Luongo fell to the ice after being struck by a puck on the right arm just above the blocker with 9:08 left in the third, but stayed in the game.

The Panthers scored twice in the first 2 minutes of the third period to stretch their lead to 5-1. Gelinas took a pass from Olli Jokinen to the right of the crease and scored at 31 seconds in. Horton weaved through traffic in front of the net and beat Emery on the stick side at 1:51 for his second goal of the game.

Vermette cut the Senators' deficit to 5-2 just 28 seconds later. Olesz closed the scoring with a short-handed goal at 19:01.

``Since the break we've been there every single game,'' Jokinen said. ``Tonight we were able to fight back and get some points. We need to find a way to do this every single night. It was a little scary tonight, everything went our way.''

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead at 18:54 of the first period as Jay Bouwmeester's shot from the left circle tipped off Stumpel's stick and went over Emery's shoulder into the net.

Ottawa tied it at 1:58 of the second. Mike Fisher brought the puck out from behind the net and passed it to Schaefer in front who put the puck past Luongo.

Florida regained the lead just 11 seconds later when Horton poked in the rebound of Olesz's shot.

``It just popped right out to me,'' Horton said. ``It was a long time coming for goals for me. I got lucky tonight and hopefully they keep going in.''

Stumpel's second goal made it 3-1 at 7:20. Sean Hill got the puck off a face off and passed to Stumpel, who put in a wrist shot from the point.

``I don't know if it was too much sun or whether the players took it for granted,'' Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said. ``We know we're not going to win every night but if we make a lot of mistakes, that's a little extreme.''

Notes: Luongo made his 19th consecutive start, breaking his own record for consecutive starts by a Panthers goalie. ... Jokinen broke his career high for points (29 goals, 37 assists). ... Ottawa had beaten Florida the last five games and won eight in a row at Florida, last losing on Oct. 28, 2000.