The Washington Capitals ended their winning streak with a well-played overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night.
The Caps kept the Panthers quiet in the first period, but Nick Cousins tipped Dmitry Kulikov’s shot to make it 1-0 in the second. Sonny Milano executed a perfect passing sequence to tie it 1-1 after forty minutes.
During a third-period power play, Tom Wilson drove hard to the net to put the Caps up with ten minutes left, but then Carter Verhæge went top shelf to tie it up late.
In overtime, Gustav Forsling ended it.
Caps lose 3-2 in overtime.
- That first period was one of more impressive accomplishment the Caps have had in a while. In 16 minutes of five-on-five play, they allowed just three shots on goal. Recently, the Panthers have controlled play better than any team in the league, so shutting them up – even if just for a minute – is important.
- The Caps have been racked by injury lately: Fehervary, Oshie, Dowd. It looked for a bit that Nick Jensen would join them in the oubliette after a crash into the boards, but Jensen came back in the second period.
- Anthony Mantha fought (and defeated) Nick Cousins in what will go down in history as the second best fight in the league on Saturday. The best was Deslaurier vs Rempe. From the Militech out-of-town scoreboard:
Deslauriers and Rempe throwing absolute haymakers! 🥊 pic.twitter.com/LT8Ls3fc1V
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 24, 2024
- If our criticism of Mantha had been lack of productivity, passion, and physicality, he had five points in five games before tonight, and tonight he beat up a guy for picking on his teammate. ✅✅✅
- Tom Wilson drew two penalties and was convincingly Washington’s best skater at five-on-five, even before he scored the go-ahead goal. I’m eager to see what his Game Score will be. Anyway, whatever slump you may have detected from Wilson recently, I assure you it was not his fault. He rocks.
- I don’t have strong opinions about Sonny Milano since he came back from injury four games ago, but man this goal was pretty. Milano to Pacioretty to Sandin to Milano to the back of the net. Sandin’s primary-assist pass was extraordinary.
Bringing the Sonshine pic.twitter.com/8U8i7H8Ewv
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 25, 2024
- Pierrick Dubè made his NHL debut. He barely saw the ice, but he got one dandy scoring chance with a dented post, so I count that as a good start.
- I don’t have anything in particular to call out about Mike Sgarbossa aside from drawing a penalty in the first, but man I just feel good whenever he has the puck. Unlike a lot of AHL lifers, Sgarbossa fits in just fine at the NHL level. He plays smart and safe, and it’s clear he’s driving play in the right direction, which means so much with so many absences among the forwards.
- Finally, Ovi hit 1400 games. He did not score.
Big smiles for Saturday night #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/4PACYSxZeQ
— RMNB (@rmnb) February 24, 2024
A tough beat after a strong performance. Their playoff likelihood remains in the mid teens. Feels like any playoff appearance would depend on crashes from any two of the Penguins, Islanders, or Devils.
But no, downer is the wrong note for ending a great Saturday. The team had tremendous effort in the first, kept it even in the second, and pressed throughout the third. That’s inspiring play from a squad that has at times been hard to watch. Makes me excited to watch them more. Speaking of: Monday, at home, against the Senators.
