Panthers Shaken By Capitals

     The Florida Panthers had a five-day rest and lost to the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime at BB&T Center on Thursday night. It is the longest break the club will have until the late December holiday period.
     It took just 25 seconds for Washington(12-2-3) to get on the scoreboard. Michal Kempny made a cross-ice pass from the left point to John Karlson on the inner right circle. He fired a rapid shot through went through Sergei Bobrovsky for his eight goal of the year. Alex Ovechkin was credited was an assist on the play.
     Florida(7-3-5) had a quick response and tied the contest 1-1 at the 1:55 mark. Frank Vatrano dashed in through the slot on a breakaway and slide the puck from the crease past Braden Hollby for his fourth tally of the season.
     The Panthers got their first lead of the game with 5:34 left in the first period. Brian Boyle passed the puck from the right wing to Anton Stralman on the right point. His slapshot was deflected in by former Capital Brett Connolly from the top of the crease for his sixth goal of the campaign.
     In the second period, the Cats made it a two-goal margin just 27 seconds into the frame. Jonathan Huberdeau forced Kempny to make a turnover in the left corner. Evgenii Dadonov connected a pass from the left wing to Aleksander Barkov in the slot area and he scored his third goal of the year on a snap shot.
     The Capitals pulled off a power-play goal at the 6:13 mark. Evgeny Kuznetsov sent a cross-ice pass from the right circle. Ovechkin then one-timed a slap shot from the left circle into a wide-open net.
     It became a 3-3 game with 7:46 remaining in the second when the Caps scored again. Dmitry Orlov forwarded the puck from the left point to Ovechkin on the left wing. He released the puck and it went off a defender and into the Panthers cage for his second goal of the game and 13th goal of the season.
     Florida reclaimed the lead on the power play 4-3 with 1:01 left in the period. Barkov was on the end wall and moved it to Huberdeau. He found Dadonov for a one-time shot from the low slot for his seventh goal this year.
     Washington evened in up again 44 seconds into the third period to make it 4-4. Kuznetsov shoveled a backhand pass from the left wing and Tom Wilson shot it in from the low slot.
     Overtime did not last long to decide the contest. Wilson scored the game-winning goal from the low slot 17 seconds in on a feed by Carlson.