Stolarz gets assist, Florida blanks Ottawa 2-0 for third shutout over Senators this season

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Anthony Stolarz skated out of his net, controlled a loose puck and set up the opening goal of the night for Florida.

And then he turned that goal into the eventual game-winner.

Stolarz stopped 25 shots and got his second assist of the season, Anton Lundell and Nick Cousins scored, and the Florida Panthers shut out the Ottawa Senators for the third time with a 2-0 victory on Tuesday night.

“I'd like to add a goal to that, but I think at the end of the day the shutouts are the most important thing,” Stolarz said.

It was the second instance of Florida shutting out a team three times in one season, the other coming when the Panthers blanked Montreal three times in 2017-18. And it was a needed win for playoff-bound Florida, with the Panthers winning for just the fourth time in their last 13 games (4-7-2).

“I'd take 2-0 over 7-6 all day long,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

The Panthers (49-24-6) pushed their point total to 104, now three points back of Boston for the Atlantic Division lead and three points ahead of Toronto in the race for the division’s No. 2 spot.

All three of the Atlantic’s top teams played Tuesday; the Bruins lost 4-1 at Carolina and have 107 points, while Toronto beat New Jersey 4-2. The Maple Leafs have 101 points and four games remaining, one more than Florida — and those two clubs end the regular season against one another in a possible first-round playoff preview.

“All we can do now is prepare the right way,” Florida forward Sam Bennett said.

Joonas Korpisalo stopped 28 shots for Ottawa, which has four games left and will miss the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. The Senators were 0-3-1 against Florida this season, getting outscored 16-2 in those contests.

“I thought it was a hard-fought game,” Ottawa coach Jacques Martin said. “There wasn’t a lot of time and space out there. We made a couple of mistakes that cost us goals in the first period. We had a few chances, they made some big saves, and that was pretty much the summary of the game.”

The Panthers opened a four-game homestand that’ll end the regular season and wasted little time taking control, with Lundell getting a power-play goal for his 12th of the season and Cousins netting his seventh of the season just 2:46 apart in the opening period.

Stolarz got his fourth career assist when he skated out of his net to control a long clear by the Senators. He sent the puck back across center ice to Lundell, who skated in alone and beat Korpisalo to open the scoring.

“We haven't seen that pass from even our own (defensemen) this season,” Lundell said. “That was a real pass.”

It was the ninth time a Florida goalie got an assist while recording a shutout. Stolarz joined Tomas Vokoun, Trevor Kidd, John Vanbiesbrouck and James Reimer as goalies who pulled off that feat for the Panthers. The only other time it happened this season, according to SportRadar, was April 2 when Boston's Linus Ullmark did it against Nashville.

UP NEXT

Senators: Visit Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Panthers: Host Columbus on Thursday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen (27) attempts a shot on goal as Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub (2) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Florida Panthers left wing Matthew Tkachuk (19) makes a shot around the net as Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub (2) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Florida Panthers center Eetu Luostarinen (27) and Ottawa Senators right wing Zack MacEwen (17) go after the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Ottawa Senators left wing Jiri Smejkal (13) makes shot on goal as Florida Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour (62) defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Ottawa Senators interim head coach Jacques Martin gestures to the referee during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice gestures during a time out during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Teammates congratulate Florida Panthers center Nick Cousins (21) after he scored a goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Ottawa Senators, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Florida Panthers defenseman Niko Mikkola (77) defends Ottawa Senators right wing Drake Batherson (19) and goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) tries to stop a shot on goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Florida Panthers goaltender Anthony Stolarz (41) stops a shot on goal by Ottawa Senators left wing Brady Tkachuk (7) as center Sam Bennett (9) defends during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Florida Panthers defenseman Josh Mahura (28) falls on Ottawa Senators left wing Parker Kelly (27) after tripping him during the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are rising Thursday to trim their losses for the week.

The S&P 500 was 0.9% higher in late trading, a day after swinging sharply when the Federal Reserve said it's likely delaying cuts to interest rates but not planning to hike them. It more than halved its drop for the week following the Fed's announcement, which was largely seen as less harsh than feared.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 334 points, or 0.9%, with a little less than an hour remaining in trading, and the Nasdaq composite was 1.5% higher.

In the bond market, Treasury yields were easing ahead of a report on Friday from the U.S. government on how many jobs employers added last month. It's one of the most highly anticipated economic reports each month, and economists expect it to show a slowdown in hiring.

“The markets will be hungry for any data suggesting the economy isn’t heating up any more than it did in” the first three months of 2024, according to Chris Larkin, managing director, trading and investing, at E-Trade from Morgan Stanley. That would give the Fed more leeway to consider cutting rates.

Earnings reports from several big companies helped drive the market higher. Qualcomm rose 10.1% after topping forecasts for profit and revenue in the latest quarter. The tech company also gave forecasted ranges for upcoming revenue and profit whose midpoints topped analysts’ expectations.

Carvana revved 32.5% higher after the used-car seller reported much better results for the latest quarter than analysts expected, boosted by better-than-forecast sales.

MGM Resorts International rose 2.9% after likewise topping forecasts for profit and revenue. It credited stronger traffic at MGM China, which ramped up as COVID-19 restrictions fell away in Macau.

Apple climbed 2.9% ahead of its profit report, scheduled to arrive after trading ends Thursday. It’s the latest to report among the group of stocks known as the “Magnificent Seven,” which drove the majority of the market’s gains last year.

They helped to offset a 16.4% drop for Etsy, which only roughly matched analysts’ expectations for results and revenue. It cited a “still challenging” environment where customers broadly are more selective about the non-essentials they’re buying.

DoorDash sank 10.6% after reporting a worse loss than expected. The company, which has been spending more on personnel and research and development, also gave a forecasted range for underlying earning trends in the current quarter whose midpoint fell short of analysts’ expectations.

Peloton Interactive swung from an early gain to a loss of 7.5% after it said it would cut roughly 400 jobs as part of a program to save $200 million in costs annually. It also said its CEO, Barry McCarthy, is stepping down. The company’s stock had fallen to a record low last week.

Linde was one of the heaviest weights on the S&P 500, sinking 4.9%, despite reporting stronger results for the latest quarter than expected. Revenue for the industrial gases and engineering company fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, as did the midpoint of its forecasted range for earnings in the current quarter.

In the bond market, which has been helping to dictate much of the stock market’s movements recently, yields were easing following some economic reports.

One showed that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected. It’s the latest signal that the job market remains solid despite high interest rates.

A separate, potentially more disappointing report suggested growth in how much U.S. workers produced per hour worked was weaker at the start of 2024 than economists expected. A measure comparing labor costs to productivity, meanwhile, rose by more than expected in the preliminary report. That could put upward pressure on inflation, which is one of the biggest fears on Wall Street.

The economy is in a tight spot, where the hope is that it remains strong enough to stay out of a recession but not so strong that it worsens the already stalled progress on inflation.

Stubbornly high readings on inflation this year are what pushed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to say on Wednesday that it will likely take “longer than previously expected” to get enough confidence inflation is under control before it can cut interest rates.

The Fed’s main interest rate has been sitting at its highest level since 2001, and cuts would release some pressure on the economy and financial markets.

After coming into the year forecasting six or more cuts to rates in 2024, traders are now largely betting on just one or two, if any, according to data from CME Group.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.57% from 4.63% late Wednesday. The two-year yield, which moves more closely with expectations for the Fed, fell to 4.88% from 4.97%.

In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed across Asia and Europe. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.5%, while other markets in China were closed for a holiday.

AP writers Matt Ott and Zimo Zhong contributed.

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm as pedestrians are reflected on a glass window Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

A person looks at an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 index at a securities firm Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)