Washington Capitals

After the Washington Capitals recorded a 4-2 upset in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (May 3), the Panthers found ...

Despite the Game 2 loss, the Capitals turned in nearly five periods of solid hockey in Florida, and have a good chance to take control of the series on home ice. However, the plus side for Washington was to earn a split in Florida, which they did with a strong Game 1 effort. While they went 19-16-6 in Chinatown, the lone meeting between the two that went to Washington was in a game where Ovechkin recorded a hat trick back on Nov. 26. The loss was more a product of bad luck and sub-par goaltending in a game the Panthers badly needed to win. While Vanecek certainly wasn’t all at fault for the goals, allowing three goals on seven shots was a bad omen for the Capitals’ chances on the evening. While Vitek Vanecek was able to hold serve with Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 1 for his first career Stanley Cup playoff win, he was badly outplayed by his counterpart on Thursday, contributing to the loss.

It's getting spicy between the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The series heads to the District of ...

Tom Wilson’s absence certainly played a role, he exited Game 1 after the first period and is out with a lower-body injury. “Then, even at the start of the second period, I thought that we were doing the right things. However, they fell back down to earth on Thursday and enter the weekend with a goalie controversy on their hands. “They caught one off the post and then another one, there’s things that we could’ve done better in front of him with regard to that. They bounced back in the rematch at FLA Live Arena: storming to a 5-1 win thanks to strikes from Aaron Ekblad, Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Mason Marchment, and Barkov. They scored at will on route to the Presidents’ Trophy title, ending the campaign with four 30-goal-scorers on their roster.

The relentlessly fun hockey site, hopelessly devoted to the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin. Our goal is to make hockey as fun about as it is to ...

He was invisible and that fourth line that was a huge strength for the Caps down the stretch was downright terrible without Garnet Hathaway on the right. And yes, I know he’s a lefty. That and eventually…shoddy goaltending.

Florida Panthers (58-18-6, first in the Atlantic Division) vs. Washington Capitals (44-26-12, fourth in the Metropolitan Division)

The Panthers have gone 18-4-2 in games decided by a single goal. The Capitals have a 38-7-6 record in games they score three or more goals. The Panthers won the last matchup 5-1. TOP PERFORMERS: Evgeny Kuznetsov has scored 24 goals with 54 assists for the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin has four goals and three assists over the last 10 games. Florida has a 58-18-6 record overall and a 23-9-6 record in road games. BOTTOM LINE: The Washington Capitals and the Florida Panthers are in a 1-1 series tie in the first round of the NHL Playoffs. The teams meet Thursday for the sixth time this season.

The Florida Panthers defeated the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Thursday at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, to even the best-of-seven opening-round series.

When the Panthers find their groove - as they did after a pedestrian opening 10 minutes in Game 2 - the floodgates tend to open. Yet if there was one position to nitpick for Florida ahead of the postseason, it was goaltending. Here, for example, is Mason Marchment, one of 10 Panthers players to rack up 40 points or more in the regular season, burying a fast-break scoring chance with ease: Can their historically fantastic top unit - Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, and John Carlson - tilt the series in Washington's favor? Executing that plan three times in the next five games will be extremely difficult. The 2-0 goal was textbook 2021-22 Panthers hockey - a perfect mix of player and puck movement, smart playmaking, and quick finishing. Consider this: In Game 1, the Panthers generated seven high-danger shot attempts in 48 five-on-five minutes. All of which brings us to the landslide that was Game 2. And, as Florida head coach Andrew Brunette noted, the Panthers " kind of self-destructed" in the third period. In the same amount of five-on-five action in Game 2, they recorded 14 high-danger attempts and scored all five of their goals. They then bagged three goals in the final 12 minutes of regulation to turn a potential 2-1 loss into a 4-2 victory. Guided by head coach Peter Laviolette, Washington is playing a completely reactive style in an attempt to minimize the best offensive team the league has seen in 26 years.