Both Nikon P90 and Panasonic FZ300 have 12.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon P90's sensor is 1/2.3-inch (6.08 x 4.56 mm ) and Panasonic FZ300's sensor is (1/2. ).
Since Nikon P90's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Panasonic FZ300.
Below you can see the P90 and FZ300 sensor size comparison.
As seen above, Nikon P90 has a infx Larger sensor area than Panasonic FZ300. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.