The Washington Capitals fell to the Florida Panthers, 4-3 (OT) Friday night at Capital One Arena in Washington. The Panthers victory eliminate the Capitals from the postseason.
Following a scoreless first frame, the Capitals opened the scoring with a tally from Nic Dowd early in the middle frame, but the Panthers answered just three minutes later for a 1-1 tie at the second intermission.
The Capitals would retake the lead early in the final frame with a deflected goal from Nick Backstrom, but the Panthers would answer midway through the period to tie the score, 2-2.
The Panthers would grab their first lead of the game at 14:17 on a goal from Aleksander Barkov. The Capitals would tie the game with a 6-on-4 power play goal from T.J. Oshie with 60 seconds left in regulation, sending the game to overtime.
The Panthers would win it in overtime with a goal from Carter Verhaeghe.
GAME STATS
NHL box score
Natural Stat Trick
Evolving Hockey
Hockey Game Stat Cards
STARTERS
Ilya Samsonov (1-2-0, 2.68 GAA, .923 sv%) got the start in goal for the Capitals. Sergei Bobrovsky (3-2-0, 2.78 GAA, .902 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Panthers. The starting lines and pairs for the Capitals:
Scratches: Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Michal Kempny, Matt Irwin, Hunter Shepard, Joe Snively.
Injured: Carl Hagelin (eye, missed 32nd-straight game, out indefinitely), Tom Wilson (lower-body, fifth-straight game missed, day-to-day)
FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals and Panthers skated to a scoreless draw in the first frame.
The Capitals led in shot attempts 16-12, scoring chances 9-6, high-danger chances 6-1 and xGF 1.01 to .25. The Capitals long term game plan of wearing down opponents over course of a series started to show as Aaron Ekblad and Ben Chiarot left game in first period.
SECOND PERIOD
The Capitals opened the scoring with a goal from Nic Dowd (1) at 3:44 of the second period. Garnet Hathaway (x) had the lone assist.
Nic Dowd technically scored twice for good measure 😅 pic.twitter.com/c7tw26onw5
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 14, 2022
But the Panthers would answer three minutes later with a goal from Ryan Lomberg (1) at 6:13 of the middle frame. Patric Hornqvist (1) and Eetu Luostarinen (1) had the helpers.
Lomberg ties it pic.twitter.com/VyDvZ9V3UC
— Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) May 14, 2022
The second period would end, tied 1-1. The Panthers rallied in shot attempts in the middle frame.
THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals regained the lead with a deflected goal from Nick Backstrom (2) at 1:37 of the third period. Justin Schultz (2) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (1) had the assists.
Backstrom with the nifty redirection and the Caps have the lead early in the third 🔥 pic.twitter.com/RZUmzYMobh
— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) May 14, 2022
The Panthers would tie the score on a goal from Claude Giroux (3) at 8:18 of the third period.
The Panthers would then take their first lead of the game on a goal from Aleksander Barkov (2) at 14:17 of the third period.
The Capitals would tie the score with a 6-on-4 power play goal from T.J. Oshie (6) at 18:59 of the final frame.
What a wild sequence! #ALLCAPS tie it & stay alive for now! 3-3
Every game starts at BET99
🛑 We are responsible Gambling— Bet99 (@Bet99Sportsbook) May 14, 2022
Regulation would end with the game tied, 3-3.
OVERTIME
The Panthers would win it in overtime with a goal from Carter Verhaeghe.
SHAVINGS
- Nic Dowd gave the Caps a 1-0 lead with his first goal of the playoffs and second point this series (1g, 1a).
- Nicklas Backstrom gave the Caps a 2-1 lead with second goal of the series. Backstrom’s 38 playoff goals rank second in franchise history.
SCENES FROM THE DISTRICT