Caps down Panthers 3-2
The Washington Capitals, coming off a 1-0 overtime loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday, downed the Florida Panthers 3-2 tonight.
The Caps fell behind early on a backhanded goal by Mike Santorelli at the 3:49 mark of the first period. That was the only scoring in the first period that saw only 11 shots on net by both teams. Florida out shot the Caps 6-5.
There was only one goal in the second period as well, a wrist shot by Eric Fehr on a feed from Mike Green to tie the game at 1-1. It was Fehr's 8th of the season. Fehr has scored three goals in his last three games, including two goals in the big Caps win over the Penguins in the Winter Classic on New Years Day. Mathieu Perreault also assisted on the Fehr goal. The Caps out shot the Panthers 12-9 in the second period.
The Caps and Panthers looked as if they were heading to a scoreless third period when Mike Green tallied his 8th goal of the season, his 5th power play goal, to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead at the 13:07 mark of the final period. Green tipped in a shot from Fehr to land the power play tally past Florida goalies Scott Clemmonson. Green has scored a point in 5 of his last 6 games, including 3 goals. Two minutes later, the Great 8, Alexander Ovechkin, would score one of his miraculous goals to give the Caps a 3-1 lead. Ovechkin took a pass from Mike Knuble off the wall and darted toward Clemmenson and took a snap shot while being taken down by D Brian McCabe to put an incredible goal in the net. It was Ovechkin's 15th of the season and assisted by Knuble and Nicklas Backstrom. Evgeny Dadanov would score for Florida at the 18:23 mark to make it another 3-2 nail biter. The Caps were forced to kill a Backstrom penalty for over a minute remaining to preserve the 3-2 win.
Semyon Varlamov takes the win, stopping 25 of 27 shows and improving to 8-4-2 on the season. Varly has gone 6 consecutive games without allowing more than 2 goals against per game.
Special Teams:
The Capitals power play was 1 for 3 with a power play tally by Mike Green, his 5th power play goal of the season. Meanwhile, even more impressive, the Caps penalty kill was a perfect 4 for 4, extending its streak to 25 straight successful penalty kills. Congrats to the penalty killers!
Multi-Point Scorers:
Alexander Ovechkin, 1 goal, 1 assist
Eric Fehr, 1 goal, 1 assist
Mike Green, 1 goal, 1 assist
DCPSR Player of the Game: MIKE GREEN
Caps Record: 24-12-6, 54 points
Next Up: @ Florida Panthers on Tuesday at 7PM
