Panthers steal Game 4 from the Capitals

This was a game the Washington Capitals were a mere inches from winning. Instead the Florida Panthers caught a break and took advantage in overtime to make this series a best of three.

T.J. Oshie struck first on a deflection on the power play off a shot from John Carlson with Nicklas Backstrom providing the secondary assist at 7:15. The Panthers tied it at 14:08 from Carter Verhaeghe. The Panthers led in shots 11-7.

The second period was scoreless as the Panthers led in shots 12-4.

The Panthers led in shots in the third 7-5 and it was evenly matched until the Caps had a chance to win the game… but didn’t. Evgeny Kuznetsov followed his own rebound at 9:31 for his second goal of the playoffs. Alex Ovechkin and Oshie had the assists.

The Caps would later get a clear empty net but a shot from downtown was just inches to the left and it pinged off the crossbar. Then Sam Reinhart tied it at 17:56.

The Caps couldn’t get any shots off in overtime but the second Panthers shot was the one that won it. It was Verhaeghe’s second goal of the night at 4:57. The Panthers led in shots 32-16. Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves.

Ovechkin thought the Caps played well in the third period but just couldn’t execute:

“I think third period we played well, we played solid. Kind of turned around the game. At the end, it was bad bounces and it goes in. As I said, it is going to be a tough, long series so move on. Forget about it, move on.”

Kuznetsov added:

“In third period, it was everything in our hands. Eventually, that’s how it is. We’re going to play best-of-three right now. There is no panic.”

The Caps get a chance to move on and steal one in Florida on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m.