A hat trick, a four-assist night and a needed win as the Panthers trounce the Senators

Noel Acciari seized his moment.

The Florida Panthers got a much-needed win as a result.

Acciari, a gritty, defensive-focused forward known more for his big-time hits than his big-time scoring, found himself playing on the Panthers’ second line on Monday, paired up with Jonathan Huberdeau and Vincent Trocheck.

It was a rare opportunity for the 28-year-old to showcase another side of his game while playing alongside two of the Panthers’ top offensive weapons.

“Don’t mess up,” Acciari told himself.

He made a statement instead.

Acciari, a veteran of 209 NHL games in his fifth season who never had a multi-goal game in his career, recorded his first career hat trick and helped jump-start a struggling Panthers offense in their 6-1 win over the Ottawa Senators at the BB&T Center.

The win snapped Florida’s three-game losing streak.

“It’s a lot of fun and exciting,” Acciari said. “You want to take advantage of it when you can because you don’t know how long it’s going to last. It could switch next game. ... Who knows what’s going to happen next game, but it was fun.”

Aleksander Barkov, Mike Matheson and Dominic Toninato rounded out scoring for the Panthers (16-12-5). Barkov’s power-play goal in the second period snapped a three-game skid in which Florida failed to score on the man advantage. Matheson’s one-timer and Toninato’s tip-in capped a five-goal middle period.

And it’s hard to discount Jonathan Huberdeau’s four assists — helping on Acciari’s first two goals, Barkov’s power play goal and Matheson’s second-period goal — that gave him 400 career points in his 500th career game. Huberdeau, already the Panthers’ all-time assist leader (264 as of Monday), is now just the second player in franchise history to eclipse the 400 career points mark. He is 19 away from tying Olli Jokinen for the franchise record.

But the spotlight on Monday shone on Acciari.

“He plays with a lot of energy every night, like it’s a playoff game for him,” Huberdeau said. “It’s unbelievable. It’s great for him to get rewarded like he did. Me and Troch kind of tried to get the puck and keep it most of the time and just create some offensive plays.”

Looking for balance

Acciari’s performance in specific on Monday — and the new second line’s production in general — resulted in the type of offensive performance coach Joel Quenneville was looking for after the Panthers managed just four goals in their three games prior— all losses.

The lack of production was unacceptable, especially considering the Panthers’ 3.31 goals per game average heading into the game ranked fifth in the NHL and the team has seen improved performance from goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.

The Panthers offense needed a reset.

So those four forward lines? Overhauled. New three-person grouping from top to bottom.

“When you’re not happy with results,” Quenneville said, “that usually leads to looking at your options. We’re looking for some balance and some consistency.”

Acciari took full advantage and had the results to show for it.

He opened scoring with 10:18 left in the first period when he backhanded a feed from Keith Yandle and Huberdeau in front of the net past goaltender Andres Nilsson.

Acciari made it 2-0 with a slap shot from the left side of the goal — aided by a back-handed pass from Huberdeau — 1:18 into the second period.

“I don’t know how he saw me,” Acciari said. “He’s a special with the puck and he can find guys backdoor, probably one of the best in the league. I’ll stand there all day if I have to.”

The Senators (14-18-2) avoided the shutout with an Artem Anisimov goal 47 seconds later. Barkov’s power-play goal with 14:19 left in the period put the Panthers up 3-1.

Five minutes later, Acciari sealed his hat trick with a backhanded shot that slipped past Nilsson on feeds from MacKenzie Weegar and Aaron Ekblad.

It was the Panthers’ second hat trick of the season, with the other accomplished by Mike Hoffman in Florida’s 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Oct. 5 to begin their home schedule.

“Acc did a lot of good things hanging around the net,” Quenneville said. “That line had a good night, a big night. It kind of led the charge for us. It was one of those games where sometimes a different look gives you a spurt and some excitement off of it and you get the reward.”

Bob’s success continues

And not to be lost in the mix was another solid night by Bobrovsky, who saved 29 of 30 shots against him.

Bobrovsky’s save percentage over his past six games: .953, stopping 203 of 213 shots against him. He has given up no more than two goals in five of the six games.

“I thought guys again helped me a lot,” Bobrovsky said. “It was good defensively. We played good defensively. It was a long stretch, six games, lot of hockey.”

Late scratch

Panthers center Brian Boyle was a late scratch Monday with an upper-body injury. Boyle, signed as a free agent on Oct. 20, has four goals and four assists over 24 games while primarily playing on the second and third lines. Denis Malgin, who was intended to be a healthy scratch, took Boyle’s spot as the third-line center.

Closing the homestand

The Panthers finish their franchise-record nine-game homestand on Friday against the Dallas Stars. Monday’s win moves the Panthers to 4-4-0 so far on their extended stay at the BB&T Center.

“You want to win every night,” Quenneville said. “You want to take advantage of this home stretch here. You look back and you give up three, you really gave away something. You could have put yourself in a good spot and now we’re chasing it. Now, all of a sudden, we’re back into it. Let’s finish this homestand in the right way.”