SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — T.J. Oshie scored the go-ahead aim halfway via the third interval, Vitek Vanecek stopped 30 pictures and the Washington Capitals rallied previous the top-seeded Florida Panthers 4-2 within the opener of their Eastern Conference first-round collection Tuesday night time.
Tom Wilson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller additionally scored for Washington, which trailed 2-1 going into the third interval. Teams had been 0-39-1 in opposition to Florida within the common season when trailing after 40 minutes, 0-22-0 when doing so on the Panthers’ house ice.
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The Capitals will need to have ignored these numbers. Kuznetsov tied the sport after a Florida turnover with 11:46 left, then Oshie obtained behind the protection and tapped a go by Sergei Bobrovsky for what turned the winner 2:23 later.
Eller wrapped it up with an empty-netter with 49 seconds left.
Claude Giroux and Sam Bennett scored for Florida, which has not gained the opening sport of a postseason collection since 1997. Bobrovsky stopped 34 pictures for the Panthers, the Presidents’ Trophy winners after an NHL-best 122 factors within the common season — and noticed the home-ice benefit slip away of their playoff opener.
Game 2 is Thursday, again in Florida.
The Panthers argued for an icing name that didn’t come on the play the place the sport obtained tied. MacKenzie Weegar misplaced the puck after bouncing into Capitals star Alex Ovechkin close to middle ice, went down, and Kuznetsov skated in alone on Bobrovsky. He beat him to the stick facet, tying the sport 2-2 with 11:46 left.
Oshie’s go-ahead aim got here not lengthy afterward, and Florida by no means obtained the equalizer.
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The Panthers had 340 objectives within the common season and have been the NHL’s highest-scoring crew since Pittsburgh in 1995-96 — which, maybe coincidentally, was the final (and solely) season by which Florida has gained a playoff collection. The Panthers went to the Stanley Cup ultimate that season, haven’t gotten previous Round 1 since, and the high-octane offense was largely silenced in Game 1.
The Panthers discovered themselves on the penalty kill simply 49 seconds into the sport after Radko Gudas obtained known as for high-sticking, and issues worsened when Weegar was hit with a delay of sport name to provide Washington 1:01 of 5-on-3 hockey.
The two-man drawback was killed off. And Florida was one second away from escaping the entire thing unscathed, earlier than Wilson scored at 3:47 to provide Washington a 1-0 lead.
But Wilson left the sport not lengthy afterward. He returned to the ice throughout a stoppage in play within the second interval, skated a bit as if to check one thing, then returned to the locker room. There was no speedy phrase on the harm or its extent.
Bennett tied the sport late within the first, Giroux made it 2-1 within the second, however the Panthers have been blanked the remainder of the best way.
NOTES
Miami Heat captain Udonis Haslem was amongst these within the crowd. … Strange scene halfway via the second, when Florida’s Mason Marchment was despatched to the penalty field, then waved out when officers (appropriately) modified their name to a penalty on Washington’s Martin Fehervary. … The penalty on Gudas at 0:49 of the primary was the third-fastest opening penalty Florida had dedicated this season. Jonathan Huberdeau was known as for roughing 20 seconds right into a sport on March 24, Gustav Forsling for hooking 25 seconds right into a sport on Nov. 27.
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(© Copyright 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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