Those who blinked right after the opening face-off between the Ottawa Senators and the Florida Panthers on Tuesday at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Fla., missed something historic.
It took just eight seconds before the first goal of the contest was scored, with Florida forward Noah Gregor finding the back of the net after a miscommunication between Ottawa defenseman Jordan Spence and goalie Linus Ullmark.
Panthers blueliner Seth Jones sent the puck to the offensive zone during the face-off, and it bounced off the boards. Ullmark was supposed to play the puck, but seemingly thought Spence would control it. Gregor took advantage of the mix-up and scored, giving the Panthers a quick 1-0 lead.
Here’s a look at that play.
Noah Gregor sets Panthers record for the fastest goal to begin a game (:08) pic.twitter.com/4j0xs61Qu7
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) March 31, 2026
With that goal, Gregor now owns the record for the fastest goal in the history of the Panthers franchise. The previous record was held by Johan Garpenlov, who lit the lamp 10 seconds into a meeting with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996.
Gregor’s historic goal was the start of the five-goal barrage by the Panthers in the first period. The Senators never recovered from that, as Florida came away with a 6-3 win.
Ottawa’s loss was a significant blow to its playoff chances, with the Senators dropping to 38-26-10 for 86 points. They are on the outside looking in of the wild-card picture in the Eastern Conference with eight games to go on their schedule.
Meanwhile, the 36-35-3 Panthers are virtually out of the playoff race with 75 points to their name, but at least they made history.
