Panthers 3, Senators 1

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OTTAWA - Rostislav Olesz and Nathan Horton scored goals 48 seconds apart early in the first period and the Florida Panthers dumped the Ottawa Senators 3-1 on Wednesday night at Scotiabank Place.

Cory Stillman assisted on Horton's goal that made it 2-0 in the first, then scored his third of the season midway through the second to restore Florida's two-goal lead.

Craig Anderson made 41 saves in his first start of the season. The backup goalie dove to his left to make a glove save on Antoine Vermette's shot as Ottawa enjoyed a power-play for the final 3:05 of the third after David Booth was assessed a double minor for high-sticking.

Florida, coming off a 3-1 loss in Montreal on Monday night, has alternated losses and wins in getting off to a 3-3 start.

Daniel Alfredsson scored a power-play goal early in the second for the Senators, who lost their second in a row.

Ottawa defenceman Filip Kuba helped set up Alfredsson's goal to extend his assists and points streaks to six games.

Martin Gerber stopped 18 shots. The Senators are 1-3 on a five-game homestand that ends Friday night against Anaheim (7 p.m., Rogers Sportsnet East, Team 1200).

Olesz scored what was initially announced as an unassisted goal when he jumped on an apparent turnover in the slot by Ottawa defenceman Alexandre Picard and beat Gerber 4:45 into the first.

An assist was subsequently awarded to Panthers forward Gregory Campbell, whose pass initiated the play before Picard fanned on his pass attempt, with the puck going directly to Olesz in the slot.

Horton made it 2-0 at 5:33 when he put a shot over Gerber's glove from the left faceoff dot for his second of the season.

Alfredsson had a goal disallowed in the final seconds of the first before he scored a second-effort goal early in the second to draw Ottawa within one.

A video review confirmed that Alfredsson's deflection from the slot with 3.5 seconds remaining in the first made contact with the puck above the level of the crossbar.

Alfredsson made his next scoring chance count for his second goal of the season 2:23 into the second when he poked his own rebound past Anderson.

Veteran Ottawa defenceman Luke Richardson made his season debut after the Senators assigned 21-year-old Brian Lee to Binghamton of the AHL earlier in the day.

Notes: Panthers D Keith Ballard ended a four-game points streak. Ballard, acquired from Phoenix as part of the draft day trade that sent Olli Jokinen to the Coyotes, had a goal and four assists over that stretch ... Kuba, who has no goals and eight assists, was acquired from Tampa Bay along with Picard and a first-round draft pick in an Aug. 29 trade for Andrej Meszaros ... Senators LW Christoph Schubert returned after he was left out of the lineup for two games. RW Shean Donovan was a healthy scratch and missed his first game of the season.