Panthers Outlast Capitals

     The Florida Panthers edged the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime on Saturday night at Capital One Arena. It was the only road game for the Panthers in a 13-game stretch over a five-week period.
     Roberto Luongo made his 1,000th start in his NHL career. He also tied Patrick Roy with most games played by a goalie in NHL history with 1,029. Luongo made his 28,000th save in his NHL career during the third period.
     Florida(23-22-8) picked up two goals in a 35-second stretch during the first period. Frank Vatrano scored at 12:55 and Keith Yandle made it 2-0 at 13:30.
     Washington(30-18-7) got a tally by Brett Connolly at the 5:02 mark of the second period. The Panthers regained a two-goal margin when they Colton Sceviour found the net at 9:17. Lars Eller added a goal for the Caps with 41 seconds left in the second.
     Derick Brassard quickly scored just seven seconds into the third for a 4-2 lead. It was the fastest goal scored to begin a period in Florida franchise history. The Capitals compiled goals by Connolly at the 6:12 mark and Evgeny Kuznetsov with 3:06 remaining in regulation to tie the contest 4-4.
     The game would go into overtime. Mike Hoffman scored a power-play goal on assists from Yandle and Aleksander Barkov at 1:31 to get the victory. It was the 25th goal of the season for Hoffman on that play. Yandle and Barkov both chalked up their 34th assists of the campaign.