Capitals down Panthers in OT
The Washington Capitals won their fifth game in a row rallying to defeat the Florida Panthers 5-4 on a game-tying and overtime game-winning goal from Tom Wilson.
Both of Tom Wilson‘s clutch goals came in the early parts. His third period tally which tied the game came 44 seconds into the third while his overtime goal came 17 seconds in. The Washington Capitals got on the board early 25 seconds in with John Carlson banging in a pass from Michal Kempny in front of the net with a bouncing puck that trickled past Sergei Bobrovsky.
Alex Ovechkin got the secondary assist and T.J. Oshie had a screen in front of the net that initially looked like it went off him.
The Panthers tied the game 90 seconds later thanks to Frank Vatrano. Former Capital Brett Connolly gave them the lead at 14:26 and 2-1 would be the score after one. The Panthers outshot the Capitals 11-7 in the opening period.
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This time it was the Panthers that scored less than a minute in when Aleksander Barkov made it 3-1 27 seconds in. The Capitals got a power play opportunity when Brian Boyle was called for slashing Radko Gudas at 5:38. Washington pulled within one with nobody concentrating on Ovechkin, who was wide open in the office. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Carlson had the helpers.
At 12:14, Ovechkin added his second goal of the game and 13th of the season on a shot from downtown that deflected off a Panthers defender. Dmitry Orlov and Nicklas Backstrom were credited with the assists.
The Panthers regained the lead with 61 seconds left in the second period on a goal from Evgenii Dadonov. 4-3 was the score entering the final period with the Panthers outshooting the Capitals 13-10.
The Caps tied it 44 seconds into the third period. Following a face-off, Kuznetsov flung the puck backhanded towards the net. Tom Wilson was right in front of the net to deflect it in.
The Capitals outshot the Panthers 13-11 in the third and had several good scoring chances but couldn’t break through. The game required overtime but Wilson ended things quickly.
Right when overtime began, Caps netminder Braden Holtby made a huge save with his blocker and the Caps struck right away in transition. Kuznetsov found Carlson down the ice and the Norris Trophy frontrunner quickly dished it off to Wilson for the game-winner 17 seconds into overtime.
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The Capitals will return home on Saturday night to host the Vegas Golden Knights at 7 p.m.