The Washington Capitals fell to the Florida Panthers, 3-2 (OT) Saturday night at Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. The overtime loss drops Washington’s record to 26-21-9 (61 points) on the season.
Following a scoreless first frame, the Panthers opened the scoring early in the middle stanza on a deflected goal by Nick Cousins. But the Capitals answered late in the period with a power play goal from Sonny Milano to make it 1-1 at the second intermission.
The Capitals took their first lead of the night midway through the third period on a power play goal from Tom Wilson, his 13th tally of the season, but the Panthers answered late in regulation with their own power play goal to tie it 2-2, ultimately sending the game to overtime.
The Panthers won it in the extra frame. Gustav Forsling notched the game-winner at 3:41 of extra time.
LINEUP
Charlie Lindgren (12-8-4, 2.63 GAA, .915 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Capitals. Anthony Stolarz (9-5-2, 1.97 GAA, .926 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Panthers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Anthony Mantha – Connor McMichael – Tom Wilson
Max Pacioretty – Mike Sgarbossa – Sonny Milano
Beck Malenstyn – Aliaksei Protas – Pierrick Dube
Trevor van Riemsdyk – John Carlson
Rasmus Sandin – Nick Jensen
Alex Alexeyev – Joel Edmundson
Charlie Lindgren
Darcy Kuemper
Scratches: T.J. Oshie (injury), Nic Dowd (upper body injury, day-to-day), Hendrix Lapierre, Ethan Bear, Nicklas Backstrom (hip).
1ST PERIOD
The Capitals and Panthers went without a tally in the first frame. Florida led in five-on-five shot attempts, 14-12, and scoring chances, 6-3. The Capitals were 0 for 2 on the power play while the Panthers did not have a man advantage in the first 20 minutes.
2ND PERIOD
The Panthers opened the scoring early in the middle frame. Nick Cousins (3) deflected a long-range blast by Dmitry Kulikov at 4:03 of the second period.
HERE WE GO CUZ ‼️ pic.twitter.com/y8EiNCYR7l
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) February 25, 2024
The Capitals tied the game with a power play goal from Sonny Milano (6) at 18:31 of the second period. Rasmus Sandin (15) and Max Pacioretty (10) had the helpers.
Sonny Milano finishes off the gorgeous tic-tac-toe setup from Sandin and Pacioretty, tying it up at 1!#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/Be7f6w0F4W
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) February 25, 2024
The game remained tied 1-1 into the second intermission. Five-on-five shot attempts were tied 15-15 in the second period.
3RD PERIOD
The Capitals took their first lead of the night on a power play goal by Tom Wilson (13) midway through the third period. Dylan Strome (21) and John Carlson (29) had the assists.
Tom Wilson races in to Strome’s beautiful bank pass and sneaks one home to put the Capitals up 2-1!#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/SY8TnJQUYj
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) February 25, 2024
The Panthers were awarded a power play late in the frame, and they would cash-in. Aleksander Barkov scored the tying tally from Carter Verhaeghe and Brandon Montour at 16:30.
ALL. TIED. UP. pic.twitter.com/As7GIX1EI8
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) February 25, 2024
Regulation would end, tied 2-2.
OVERTIME
The Panthers won it in the extra frame. Gustav Forsling notched the game-winner at 3:41 of extra time.
GUS IS JUST THAT GOOD pic.twitter.com/CGai09ymAJ
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) February 25, 2024
SHAVINGS (From Capitals PR)
- Alex Ovechkin played in his 1,40oth career NHL game.
- Sonny Milano scores his sixth goal of the season to tie the game 1-1. Milano has recorded three points (2g, 1a) in four games since returning to the Capitals lineup on Feb. 17.
- Rasmus Sandin earned the primary assist on Milano’s goal, extending his point streak to three games (1g, 2a). Sandin has recorded 12 points (3g, 9a) in his last 17 games.
- Max Pacioretty recorded the secondary assist on Milano’s goal, his 10th assist in 21 games this season. Pacioretty ranks tied for third on Washington in assists since Jan. 3, when he made his season debut (Ovechkin: 12a; Strome: 11a; Carlson: 10a).
- Tom Wilson scored his 13th goal of the season to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead. It marks Wilson’s fourth power-play goal, which ranks fourth on Washington (Ovechkin: 7 PPG; Oshie: 6 PPG; Strome: 5 PPG).
- John Carlson earned the secondary assist on Wilson’s power-play goal, his team-leading 29th assist of the season. Carlson also leads Washington in power-play assists (11) and ranks tied for second in power-play points (12).
By Jon Sorensen