Wednesday, November 8, 2023

Panthers Get By Capitals

     The Washington Capitals fell to the Florida Panthers 4-3 in overtime on Wednesday night at Capital One Arena. The Panthers completed a string of contests in which they had four road games in a five-game stretch. The Cats return home on Friday for an Eastern Conference Finals rematch against the Carolina Hurricanes.
     Washington(5-4-2) moved out to a 1-0 lead at the 10:42 mark of the first period. Anthony Mantha raced down the right wing and sent a diagonal pass. It went off Anton Lundell in the slot area and by Sergei Bobrovsky. Caps goalie Darcy Kuemper picked up the secondary assist on the play for his fifth career assist. 
     Florida(7-4-1) evened it up 1-1 with 7:11 left in the first. Matthew Tkachuk passed the puck from the right goal line. Oliver Ekman-Larsson snapped a shot from the high slot for his third tally of the year.
     The Panthers pulled ahead 2-1 with 3:15 to go in the period. Aleksander Barkov chalked up his fourth goal of the season on a snap shot from the left circle. Sam Reinhart fed the puck on a backhand pass from the left corner. 
     In the second period, the Capitals tied it 2-2 at 6:13. Connor McMichael scored a shorthanded goal on a backhand shot. 
     The Caps would reclaim the lead 3-2 with 4:09 remaining in the second. Mantha compiled his second goal of the contest and third goal of the campaign on a wrist shot. 
     The Cats made it 3-3 at the 3:33 mark of the third period. Evan Rodrigues collected his third goal in a Panthers uniform on a deflected shot.
     Florida finished the game just 15 seconds into overtime. Rodrigues advanced the puck from behind his own cage to Barkov at the red line. Barkov connected a diagonal pass and Reinhart guided the puck in with a forehand shot from the top of the crease for his team-high ninth goal of the season. 

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