Thursday, November 4, 2021

Panthers Hold Off Capitals

     The Florida Panthers survived the Washington Capitals 5-4 in overtime at FLA Live Arena on Thursday night. The Panthers extended their point streak to 10 games. Pembroke Pines native Chase Priskie made his NHL debut with Florida.
     Florida(9-0-1) quickly got on the scoreboard at the 3:07 mark of the first period. Alexander Barkov flicked a backhand shot from the top of the crease by Ilya Samsonov for his sixth goal of the season. Anthony Duclair and Carter Verhaeghe picked up assists on the play. 
     It became 2-0 for the Cats with 8:56 left in the first. Aaron Ekblad was able to get an unassisted tally as he blasted a slap shot from above the right circle for his fourth goal in the campaign. 
     Spencer Knight replaced Sergei Bobrovsky in net for the Panthers to begin the second period. Washington(5-1-4) cut it to 2-1 just 43 seconds into the frame. Anthony Mantha sent a long lead pass from his own zone to Daniel Sprong at center ice for a breakaway. He skated through the slot area and released a forehand shot for his second goal this season. 
     The Panthers expanded their lead to 3-1 at 7:16 of the second. Mason Marchment backhanded it to Gustav Forsling on the left point. He made a cross-ice pass and Brandon Montour scored on a high wrist shot from the right point. Samsonov was pulled by the Caps from the net and replaced by Vitek Vanecek. 
     It took a short time for Florida to beat the new netminder on the power play with 4:28 to go. Ekblad fired a shot from the top of the zone which was saved. Patric Hornqvist guided the puck through the blue paint and Barkov smacked the puck into the cage. Barkov tied Olli Jokinen for first all-time in Florida Panthers franchise history with his 188th career goal. 
     The Capitals closed it to 4-2 with 1:49 remaining. Lars Eller dropped a pass on the left point. Alex Ovechkin skated to the top left circle and snapped a shot for his 10th goal of the season and 740th goal of his NHL career. 
     The Caps made it 4-3 with 16.8 seconds left. Tom Wilson redirected the puck in the low slot off a shot by John Carlson from the right point. 
     In the third period, Washington evened it up 4-4 at the 6:56 mark. Ovechkin centered the puck from the end wall and Connor McMichael scored his first NHL goal on a snap shot from the low slot. 
     Florida got the game-winning goal at 1:55 in overtime. Forsling left the puck for Eetu Luostarinen at the right point. He sent a diagonal pass through the slot and it deflected off the stick of Wilson past Vanecek. 

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