Top 3 must-see Capitals hockey games in 2022

#2 Feb. 16 vs. Florida Panthers

On Thursday Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. the Florida Panthers come to town for the first time since eliminating the Caps in Game 6 on Friday the 13th.

The Panthers won the Presidents Trophy as the league’s top team in the regular season. After they eliminated the Caps they got swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

I wouldn’t necessarily say the Caps choked in that series. I think they just missed every opportunity they could to put a stranglehold on the Panthers. That included a missed empty netter in Game 4, a blown 3-0 lead in Game 5 and a costly turnover in overtime of Game 6 that sealed their doom.

The Panthers have a new coach in Paul Maurice. The biggest thing they did this offseason was trading Jonathan Huberdeau, MacKenzie Weegar, Cole Schwindt, and a lottery protected 2025 first round pick to the Calgary Flames for Matthew Tkachuk and a conditional fourth rounder.

After that they signed Tkachuk to an eight year contract extension worth $76 million. But Huberdeau was a big loss. He had a career high 115 points last season with 30 goals and 85 assists. Tkachuk ain’t too shabby though as he had a career high 104 points with 42 goals and 62 assists.

That game leads into the next one we’re going to talk about.