Capitals 3, Panthers 5
Scoresheet - Wash Post - Mia Herald
You know the old saying, if I had didn't have bad luck I would have no luck at all. It pretty much sums up the Washington Capitals in the this game. Two pucks that bounced off defenders beat Jose Theodore and the Florida Panthers take a rare win at the Verizon Center 5-3.
The Caps effort on home ice actually started off well. They outplayed the Panthers in the first coming away with more shots than the Panthers (8-4) and the one nothing lead off a power play tally from Nick Backstrom.
The second period was a nightmare for the Caps. The Panthers did finally wake up in the second and got the tying goal. Then all went to poop. Alex Ovechkin was called for goaltender interference. The Panthers actually had a hard time getting any sustained pressure on their power play. Dave Steckel got the puck and tried to fire it to Shaone Morrisonn on the other side of the rink. The only problem was Karl Alzner was between them and Steckel's would be pass hit Alzner in the skate and beat Jose Theodore five hole.
As weird as the goal maybe (and credited to Jay Bouwmeester as he was the last one to touch it), it gave the Panthers the lead and sparked their offense. The Caps couldn't withstand the pressure and Eric Fehr threw the puck over the glass and sat for delay of game. The Panthers power play pressed, and a would be pass by Bryan McCabe went off Morrissonn's skate and beat Theodore to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead.
The last one seemed to break the Capitals back as they looked just to salvage the period and come up with at least a goal going into the third. But Florida closed everything down and the Panthers goalie Craig Anderson played solid. Florida scored early in the third and that sort of sealed the deal. There was a late surge in the third by the Caps. Viktor Kozlov scored and that sparked the Capitals' offense and Alex Ovechkin. Tomas Fleischmann made it close after a rebound goal to make it 4-3, but the Caps couldn't solve the Panthers down the stretch.
The Caps unbeaten streak at home ends at 9-0-1. Their first home loss had to sting a bit as misfortunes did the Caps in. It is sort of one of those games were you can't really get mad at the boys, they did play a great opening period and their surge late was very exciting to watch. But those two bad bounces seemed to bruise the Caps and they never really recovered.
San Jose keeps their home unbeaten in regulation record and now stands alone with that distinction. The Caps will look to rectify both their second straight loss, and a plethera of injuries. Graham Mink was called up to play from Hershey.
Due to the black-out, just about every blogger and their mother were online to give up dates on the game. Lucky for Caps' fans, this is the last blacked out game for the Capitals for the rest of the season. No more will you have to sit next to your computer to hit the refresh button every 15 seconds.
Ovi starts a new point scoring streak, he had an assist which means he has a one game point streak going (although so does every other Cap who had a point toinght). Fleischmann scored his tenth goal of the season, continuing to impress at the NHL level (he had an assist as well). Bryan Helmer had a good game. Although he was a -1, he had 4 shots, 2 hits and 4 blocked shots. Backstrom and Kozlov both had a goal and an assist for 2 points this evening.
WashingtonCaps.com: more pics Panthers vs. Capitals (if you go through the pictures fast enough, it's almost like highlights).
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