Florida Panthers v. Washington Capitals
Game 3 – Series Tied 1-1
Game Recap:
With the series shifting to DC the Washington Capitals would look to bounce back against the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of their first round series. Unfortunately for the Caps it would not be a hot start as Jonathan Huberdeau would strike for the Panthers to take the early 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. Shortly after the goal the Caps would get on the powerplay thanks to an Eetu Luostarinen tripping penalty, but the Caps would not be able to capitalize with the extra man advantage. Then late in the period Anthony Mantha would go to the box to put the Panthers on the powerplay, but with three seconds left on the extra man advantage MacKenzie would take a penalty to put the Caps on the powerplay and this time they would strike as TJ Oshie would tip in an Alex Ovechkin blast to tie the game at one.
Come the second period the Caps would march to the penalty box as first Martin Fehervary would go to the box for tripping, and after the Caps killed off that penalty Justin Schultz would be called for interference. The Caps would kill off both penalties successfully, and as a result they would take the momentum and run with it as Marcus Johansson would strike to give the Caps the 2-1 lead. After the goal the Caps would draw a penalty against Anthony Duclair for interference. While the Caps would not strike on that powerplay they would continue to buzz, and Trevor van Riemsdyk would strike to grow the Caps lead to two. In the final thirty seconds of the period Anthony Mantha would get into a tussle with Sam Bennett, and both players would get minors for roughing, but Bennett’s additional minor for tripping would put the Caps on the powerplay as they head into the second intermission up 3-1.
Heading into the third period the Caps would have about 90 seconds of powerplay time, but they would not take advantage of the extra man advantage. However, later in the period Huberdeau would go to the box, and this time it would be a beautiful pass for the one timer from Alex Ovechkin for the Caps to grow their lead to three with the powerplay tally. With less than five minutes left in regulation the Panthers would pull Sergei Bobrovsky, but John Carlson would shoot one from 190 feet away and into the empty net to grow their lead to four. Shortly after the goal the Panthers would get called for too many men on the ice as the Caps would go back to the powerplay, but would not score. In the final minute of the game Garnet Hathaway would put the final nail in the coffin for Game 3 as he would score to give the Capitals the 6-1 victory over the Panthers to take the 2-1 series lead.
Lineups:
Florida Panthers:
Carter Verhaeghe — Aleksander Barkov — Anthony Duclair
Jonathan Huberdeau — Sam Bennett — Sam Reinhart
Mason Marchment — Anton Lundell — Claude Giroux
Noel Acciari — Eetu Luostarinen — Patric Hornqvist
MacKenzie Weegar — Aaron Ekblad
Gustav Forsling — Radko Gudas
Ben Chiarot — Brandon Montour
Sergei Bobrovsky
Spencer Knight
Scratched: Petteri Lindbohm, Joe Thornton, Lucas Carlsson, Maxim Mamin, Robert Hagg, Jonas Johansson, Ryan Lomberg
Injured: Markus Nutivaara (undisclosed)
Washington Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Conor Sheary
Marcus Johansson — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie
Anthony Mantha — Lars Eller — Garnet Hathaway
Johan Larsson — Nic Dowd — Brett Leason
Martin Fehervary — John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov — Nick Jensen
Trevor van Riemsdyk — Justin Schultz
Vitek Vanecek
Ilya Samsonov
Scratched: Connor McMichael, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Matt Irwin, Michal Kempny, Zach Fucale
Injured: Carl Hagelin (left eye), Tom Wilson (lower body)
First Period:
FLA Goal – 2:45 – Jonathan Huberdeau (1) from Anthony Duclair (2) and Aaron Ekblad (1)
FLA Penalty – 6:53 – Eetu Luostarinen 2 minutes for Holding
WAS Penalty – 17:30 – Anthony Mantha 2 minutes for Cross Checking
FLA Penalty – 19:27 – MacKenzie Weegar 2 minutes for Holding
WAS PPG – 19:34 – TJ Oshie (2) from Alex Ovechkin (3) and John Carlson (2)
| End of First | FLA – 1 | WAS – 1 |
| Shots | 9 | 11 |
| Faceoff Wins | 12 | 11 |
| Hits | 16 | 21 |
| Powerplay | 0/1 | 1/2 |
Second Period:
WAS Penalty – 2:42 – Martin Fehervary 2 minutes for Tripping
WAS Penalty – 5:01 – Justin Schultz 2 minutes for Interference
WAS Goal – 9:51 – Marcus Johansson (1) from Anthony Mantha (2) and Nicklas Backstrom (2)
FLA Penalty – 11:45 – Anthony Duclair 2 minutes for Interference
WAS Goal – 18:49 – Trevor van Riemsdyk (1) from Marcus Johansson (1) and Nicklas Backstrom (3)
WAS Penalty – 19:34 – Anthony Mantha 2 minutes for Roughing
FLA Penalty – 19:34 – Sam Bennett 2 minutes for Tripping
FLA Penalty – 19:34 – Sam Bennett 2 minutes for Roughing
| End of Second | FLA – 1 | WAS – 3 |
| Shots | 22 | 18 |
| Faceoff Wins | 23 | 22 |
| Hits | 30 | 36 |
| Powerplay | 0/3 | 1/3 |
Third Period:
FLA Penalty – 8:52 – Jonathan Huberdeau 2 minutes for Interference
WAS PPG – 10:25 – Alex Ovechkin (1) from Conor Sheary (1) and Anthony Mantha (3)
WAS ENG – 15:40 – John Carlson (1) from Lars Eller (1)
FLA Penalty – 16:53 – Bench (Mason Marchment) 2 minutes for Too Many Men
WAS Goal – 19:18 – Garnet Hathaway (1) from Johann Larsson (1)
| End of Third | FLA – 1 | WAS – 6 |
| Shots | 30 | 31 |
| Faceoff Wins | 33 | 27 |
| Hits | 50 | 44 |
| Powerplay | 0/3 | 2/6 |
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