The Washington Capitals downed the Florida Panthers, 6-3, Saturday afternoon at Capital One Arena in the District. The win pushed the Capitals’ record to 47-15-8 (102 points) on the season. Alex Ovechkin recorded two assists on the day while Dylan Strome notched his 68th point of the season, setting a career-high and surpassing his high set last season.
LINEUP
Logan Thompson (30-4-5, 2.29 GAA, .917 SV%, 2 SO) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Vitek Vanecek (4-11-3, 3.63 GAA, .888 SV%, 1 SO) got the start in goal for the visiting Panthers. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Tom Wilson
Connor McMichael — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Aliaksei Protas
Andrew Mangiapane – Lars Eller — Taylor Raddysh
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Anthony Beauvillier
Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren
Scratched: Ethen Frank, Alex Alexeyev, Dylan McIlrath.
Injured: Sonny Milano (upper-body), Nicklas Backstrom (hip), T.J. Oshie (back).
SUMMARY
The first period saw a total of six goals between the two clubs, with Connor McMichael, Sam Bennett, John Carlson, Seth Jones, Anthony Beauvillier, and Jonah Gadjovich all trading tallies through the first twenty minutes. Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome, and Andrew Mangiapane all scored in the second, with Strome’s goal marking a new career-high in Points (68) and his 200th Point in a Caps sweater. The third would remain uneventful, with neither club lighting the lamp.
Logan Thomspon stopping 33 of 36 shots, while Vitek Vanecek allowed six goals on 31 shots. The Panthers finished with the lead in Shots on Goal, while power play-wise, neither club converted on their respective power play opportunities (three for Florida, two for Washington)
1ST PERIOD
The Capitals would strike early in the contest thanks to Connor McMichael’s 25th goal of the season; Tom Wilson recorded the assist on the goal.
Florida’s Sam Bennett would answer just over three minutes later, potting his 23rd goal of the campaign at 06:35; Mackie Samoskevich and Gustav Forsling assisted on the goal.
John Carlson put the hosts on the board and back in the lead with less than half the first frame remaining. A bounce off the defender’s leg found its way past former Washington Capital Vitek Vanecek; Connor McMichael and Pierre-Luc Dubois were credited with assists on the play.
The Caps’ lead lasted less than two minutes, as a blast from defenseman Seth Jones from the point knotted the score at two apiece. Bennet and Evan Rodrigues were credited with assists.
The newest member of the Capitals, Anthony Beauvillier, found himself all alone on Vanecek, potting his 15th of the season and second as a Capital to put the home team back in the lead, if only, momentarily. Rasmus Sandin and Trevor van Riemsdyk assisted on the goal.
The back-and-forth scoring continued as Jonah Gadjovich beat Logan Thompson at 15:27 to tie the score, 3-3.
Despite a late power play, the Capital and Panthers headed into the locker room all tied up at 3-3. The Caps led 15-9 in Shots on Goal.
Chart: NaturalStatTrick
2ND PERIOD
The Capitals picked up where the two clubs left off just seven seconds into the middle frame, with Tom Wilson potting his 31st goal of 2024-25 on a breakaway to give the Capitals a 4-3 lead; Matt Roy and Martin Fehervary assisted on the goal.
Dylan Strome added his 23rd of the season 52 seconds later to push the lead to two. Alex Ovechkin and Aliaksei Protas recorded the assists.
Andrew Mangiapane would join the scoring free-for-all at the 05:57 mark, scoring his 13th goal of the season on assists from Ovechkin and Fehervary.
The two clubs headed into the second intermission with Washington up where it matters most, 6-3. Although outshot by 13-9 margin, the Caps held a 24-22 SOG advantage through 40 minutes.
3RD PERIOD
The Capitals and Panthers traded numerous chances in the final twenty of play, however neither club could continue the scoring from the first 40. The two teams finished the evening with the Panthers on top of Washington, 36-31, in Shots on Goal, and winning 50.8% of the faceoffs to the Caps’ 49.2%
