Florida Panthers (14-2-3 31pts) v. Washington Capitals (12-3-5 29pts)
Game Recap:
At home in Washington DC, the Capitals would don their blue third jerseys as they would play host to the Florida Panthers in a battle of two of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. In the first period it would be a rather quiet period. Both teams would trade powerplay opportunities, but neither team would be able to capitalize on them. However, late in the period with 32 seconds left, Jonathan Huberdeau would be the beneficiary of a blown wheel of a Caps defenseman to get a breakaway and squeak the puck past Ilya Samsonov to give the Panthers the 1-0 lead.
In the second period it would get goal crazy as Tom Wilson would strike shorthanded 94 seconds into the period to tie the game at one, but then a powerplay goal and an even strength goal 56 seconds apart by Alex Ovechkin would give the Caps the 3-1 lead over the Panthers. However, moments later Sam Reinhart would strike on a shot Samsonov should’ve had to get the Panthers back within one. Both teams would trade powerplay opportunities late in the period, but neither team would score as the Caps take the 3-2 lead into the second intermission.
One thing that took place during the second period was Sergei Bobrovsky and his constant pulling from the net for Spencer Knight. Looked like Bobrovsky got hit high on the Wilson goal and was pulled after Ovechkin’s first goal. He would come back after Ovechkin’s second goal, but after Reinhart scored the concussion spotters called down and had Bobrovsky pulled for concussion protocol. Bobrovsky would return to finish the period.
Then in the third period Ovechkin would remain hot as he would post up in front of the net and record his third of the game to give him his 28th career hat trick to give the Caps their two goal lead back. Howevera little over 90 seconds later Carter Verhaeghe would score to get the Panthers back within one. The Panthers would pull Bobrovsky in the final minutes, but the Capitals would hold them at bay as they take the game with the 4-3 win.
Lineups:
Florida Panthers:
Jonathan Huberdeau — Sam Bennett — Maxim Mamin
Carter Verhaeghe — Anton Lundell — Sam Reinhart
Frank Vatrano — Joe Thornton — Owen Tippett
Ryan Lomberg — Eetu Luostarinen — Patric Hornqvist
MacKenzie Weegar — Aaron Ekblad
Gustav Forsling — Radko Gudas
Lucas Carlsson — Brandon Montour
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Scratched: Kevin Connauton, Anthony Duclair
Injured: Aleksander Barkov (knee), Mason Marchment (upper body), Markus Nutivaara (undisclosed)
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Aliaksei Protas
Daniel Sprong — Connor McMichael — Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway
Brett Leason — Michael Sgarbossa — Beck Malenstyn
Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Trevor van Riemsdyk — Dennis Cholowski
Ilya Samsonov
Vitek Vanecek
Scratched: Matt Irwin
Injured: Nicklas Backstrom (hip), Anthony Mantha (shoulder), Conor Sheary (upper body), T.J. Oshie (lower body), Justin Schultz (upper body)
COVID-19 protocol: Lars Eller
First Period:
WAS Penalty – 10:01 – Martin Fehervary 2 minutes for Interference
FLA Penalty – 14:10 – Sam Bennett 2 minutes for Goalie Interference
FLA Goal – 19:28 – Jonathan Huberdeau (7) from unassisted
Second Period:
WAS Penalty – :10 – Alex Ovechkin 2 minutes for Slashing
WAS SHG – 1:34 – Tom Wilson (8) from John Carlson (15) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (18)
FLA Penalty – 1:37 – Joe Thornton 2 minutes for Tripping
WAS PPG – 2:50 – Alex Ovechkin (16) from Tom Wilson (11) and Aleksai Protas (2)
WAS Goal – 3:46 – Alex Ovechkin (17) from Aleksai Protas (3) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (19)
FLA Goal – 6:49 – Sam Reinhart (4) from Marcus Weegar (10) and Brandon Montour (8)
FLA Penalty – 9:57 – Brandon Montour 2 minutes for Hooking
WAS Penalty – 14:15 – Garnet Hathaway 2 minutes for Tripping
Third Period:
WAS Goal – 4:02 – Alex Ovechkin (18) from Evgeny Kuznetsov (20) and Tom Wilson (12)
FLA Goal – 5:36 – Carter Verhaeghe (7) from Gustav Forsling (12)
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