The Washington Capitals used two objectives within the opening minute of the second interval to grab a 6-3 victory over the Florida Panthers at Capital One Area on Saturday. Alex Ovechkin flirted with a objective within the center body, however the Capitals celebrity settled for 2 assists. Washington sweeps the season collection with the defending Stanley Cup champions from Florida, with all wins coming by three-goal margins. In November, Washington skated into Dawn, Florida, to knock off the Panthers 4-1. In the meantime, the Capitals claimed each dwelling dates in opposition to the Panthers by similar 6-3 scores.
Sport Recap
The primary interval in Washington began rapidly and by no means let up, as six objectives have been scored in 20 minutes of intense hockey motion. Connor McMichael opened the scoring for Washington after receiving a move from Tom Wilson that despatched the Capitals middle on a breakaway in opposition to Vitek Vanecek. McMichael deked to the backhand, sliding the puck round Vanecek for a 1-0 Washington benefit.
Three minutes later, Florida acquired some puck luck as Gustav Forsling’s dump-in from the crimson line took an odd hop off the backboards, with the puck eluding Washington’s Logan Thompson. Bennett deposited a straightforward empty-net objective following a cross-ice move from Mackie Samoskevich to tie the sport at one.
Six minutes later, Washington acquired their very own good hockey fortune as a John Carlson shot deflected off a Florida defender and previous Vanecek for a 2-1 Washington lead. Florida’s Seth Jones ripped a shot previous Thompson for his first objective as a Panthers defenseman 92 seconds later to tie the sport at two.
beauvi’s obtained a knack for scoring stunning objectives pic.twitter.com/8m2BRFI2oq
— x – Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 22, 2025
Washington’s commerce acquisition, Anthony Beauvillier, broke the impasse with a formidable particular person effort that includes a depraved velocity burst and a few nifty stickhandling to slip the puck previous a bewildered Panthers goalie for Washington’s third-one objective lead of the afternoon, 3-2. It was Beauvillier’s second objective for Washington and his 14th objective of the season, which is his highest complete since 2020-21.
Associated: Get to Know the Latest Capital, Anthony Beauvillier
This lead lasted 29 seconds as Florida’s forecheck prompted a defensive zone turnover from Washington, resulting in Jonah Gadjovich’s 3-3 tying rating. The group at Capital One Area had a couple of minutes to breathe after a frenzied opening 20 minutes of play with a 3-3 tie and two durations of regulation motion remaining. Followers who have been late returning to their seats after the primary intermission missed the Washington get together because the Capitals blitzed the Panthers throughout the center interval.
Tom Wilson scored seven seconds into the second interval after receiving a picture-perfect move from defenseman Matt Roy that sprung the ahead on a breakaway in opposition to Florida’s goalie. Wilson moved to the backhand and threw his fingers within the air because the puck slid previous a sprawling Vanecek for a 4-3 Washington lead. Lower than a minute later, Dylan Strome doubled the result in two objectives at 5-3 on a deflection from an Ovechkin shot-pass that was in search of the Capitals middle on the high of the crease. The back-to-back objectives have been the eleventh time the Capitals have scored a pair of fast tallies within the opening minute of a interval. T.J. Oshie and Ovechkin teamed up for the final quick-strike celebrations that final time it occurred for Washington in October 2017.
Ovechkin slipped on the ice on a delayed penalty name in opposition to Florida to help in Washington’s last objective of the afternoon. Washington’s captain fired a shot from his typical left circle space that ricocheted off Andrew Mangiapane’s skate and into the web for a 6-3 Capitals lead. After 9 objectives within the first two durations, there was no scoring within the third interval.
Washington improves to 46-15-8 on the high of the Metropolitan standings, whereas Florida falls right into a first-place tie within the Atlantic Division with the Toronto Maple Leafs at 42-24-3 data. Washington travels to Winnipeg for a marquee NHL conflict on Tuesday night time. Florida hosts the Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night time at dwelling.
