The Florida Panthers suffered a loss on Friday to the Washington Capitals, 4-3. This Friday night showdown was filled with scoring and high intense action. In the end, the Capitals sealed the win behind an Alex Ovechkin hat trick, marking the Panthers’ first loss since November 13th.
Recap
Jonathan Huberdeau opened the scoring in this game late in the first. Huberdeau slipped the puck between Ilya Samsonov’s pads on the backhand.
Both teams would come into the second hungry. Tom Wilson scored early in the second to tie the game at one. Alexander Ovechkin would then score just over a minute later to give the Capitals the lead. Ovechkin would score yet another goal less than 50 seconds later. That gave the Caps a 3-1 lead. However, the Panthers would manage to score one more goal before the end of the second period – Sam Reinhart snapped a shot by Samsonov from the right circle.
In the third period, Ovechkin would pot in his third goal of the game, marking a hat trick. That put the Caps up 4-2. The Panthers wouldn’t go down without fighting. Carter Verhaeghe scored to make it 4-3, but the Capitals held on for the win.
Game Notes
- Alex Ovechkin (36 years, 70 days) became the oldest Capitals player with a hat trick in franchise history. Peter Bondra (35 years, 295 days on Nov. 29, 2003) previously held that distinction.
- Ovechkin passed Brendan Shanahan (1,354) for the 26th most-points in NHL history.
Up Next
The Panthers will play the second game of a back-to-back against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday night. Puck drop is at 6:00 PM EST.
(Featured image by John McCreary/NHLI via Getty Images)