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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Panthers goaltender Mike Vernon already is in postseason form.
He stopped 32 shots and won his fifth consecutive start Friday night as Florida beat Ottawa 3-1, handing the Senators their fifth loss in eight games.
|  | | Florida's Mark Parrish celebrates the game's first goal, scored by teammate Len Barrie. |
The Panthers, winners of five of their last seven, are three points ahead of Ottawa for the fifth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Vernon was the difference in Florida's first win in four tries against Ottawa this season. He stopped 11 shots in the first period, 10 in the second and 11 in the third, including several from point-blank range.
"He's got the ability to dig down and play the big games and he came up with some tremendous stops here tonight," Panthers coach Terry Murray said. "He has the ability to turn a game around, to maybe outright win a game by himself on any given night."
The Panthers had plenty of turnovers, giving Ottawa numerous chances, but the 37-year-old goaltender -- fifth in career playoff wins with 77 -- kept his team from falling behind.
"I play a very simple game. I don't do anything crazy," Vernon said. "I stand there and let the shooter try to beat me. It's just good they didn't have too many rebounds and second-chance shots."
The Panthers led 1-0 after the first period. They scored in the ninth minute when Len Barrie netted his eighth goal of the season, a slap shot from just inside the right circle that beat Tom Barrasso.
Ottawa tied the game in the second on Daniel Alfredsson's 18th goal. He took a pass from Petr Schastlivy, skated around defender Mike Wilson and cut sharply to the front of the net, where he slipped a wrist shot past Vernon.
"I kind of felt like I was playing against Pavel Bure out there for a minute," Wilson said of Alfredsson's speed.
The Panthers regained the lead with a power-play goal in the final minutes of the second period, when Ray Whitney found Pavel Bure just outside the crease. Bure's shot rebounded off Barrasso and the puck bounced around in front of the net until Ray Sheppard tipped it in off a defenseman's skate at the 18:39 mark.
The goal was Sheppard's eighth, and the assist extended Bure's consecutive points streak to 10 games on his 29th birthday.
That was enough cushion for Vernon.
"It was a game of mistakes," Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. "I thought we worked pretty hard, and you have to give credit to Vernon. He made some big saves."
Viktor Kozlov gave the Panthers, who improved to 29-2-2 when leading after two periods, a 3-1 lead with 5:28 to play.
In a four-on-four situation, Kozlov skated across the blue line, cut toward the right circle and ripped a shot past Barrasso for his 17th goal.
"You'll take the two points in a game like this," Murray said. "Certainly we come away knowing that we had some big goaltending. Without Vernon, they would have made us pay a big price."
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Carolina 3
Buffalo 1
Florida 3
Ottawa 1
New Jersey 6
Atlanta 0
Nashville 2
Vancouver 1
Phoenix 3
Calgary 1
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Goalie Mike Vernon stops a point blank shot by Shaun Van Allen.
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RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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