The Washington Capitals continued to prove why they're the beasts of the Eastern Conference when they knocked down the Florida Panthers by a final of 6-3. Logan Thompson finished with 30 saves and the Caps high flying offense would lead the attack the rest of the way.
Andrew Mangiapane put the Caps up 1-0 with his 11th goal of the season at 14:08. Rasmus Sandin and Nic Dowd had the assists with their 15th and ninth, respectively. Sam Bennett tied the game at 19:30 for his 17th of the season. Panthers led in shots 13-9 after one.
Early in the second 20 seconds in Sandin was called for tripping Sam Reinhart. It put the Panthers on the power play but Tom Wilson did not care as he answered with a shorthanded goal for his 22nd of the season at 1:15. Aliaksei Protas would notch his 23rd assist on the year.
Aleksander Barkov tied it at two at 4:14 for his 13th goal of the season. 2-2 would be the score after two with the Caps leading in shots 9-6 in the middle frame. In the third the Caps turned it on some more.
At 2:19 John Carlson set up Lars Eller to give the Caps the lead at 2:19. It was Eller's ninth of the season and Carlson's 29th assist on the season. Nic Dowd then struck at 6:10 for his 11th of the season. Andrew Mangiapane and Dylan Strome had the assists with their eighth and 36th respectively.
Matthew Tkachuk made it a one goal deficit at 7:46 with his 19th of the season. Then Aliaksei Protas notched an empty net goal for his 22nd of the season at 18:21. But that wasn't all. Enter Ovi.
Alex Ovechkin would hit a buzzer beater to send the Caps fans home happy for his 25th of the season with an empty net goal of his own. He is now 17 away from passing Wayne Gretzky for the NHL lead as it was the 878th goal of his storied career. Martin Fehervary and Nic Dowd had the assists with their 11th and 10th respectively.
The Caps will next be in game action on Thursday night when they take on Philadelphia Flyers up north at Wells Fargo Center. Puck drop is 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network.