The Washington Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers, 6-3, at Capital One Arena on Tuesday night. The Capitals won the battle between two top-10 ranked special teams units on the way to their 35th win of the season. A 2-2 deadlock was broken by a bottom six that continues to provide offense and balanced scoring in Washington. With the victory party already underway, Alexander Ovechkin cashed in a buzzer-beater that moved him one skate closer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring mark, while Logan Thompson picked up the win in net.
Capitals Penalty Kill Crew Turns Tables on Panthers
Tom Wilson’s short-handed goal gave Washington a 2-1 lead at 1:15 of the second period. It was the team’s fourth goal on the penalty kill this season to move them into the top half of the league and tied with four other NHL teams in 13th place. The Panthers lead the league with 11 short-handed goals this season. Wilson joins Nic Dowd, Andrew Mangiapane, and Aliaksei Protas as the team’s penalty-killers to net a short-handed marker this season. Coincidently, all four scored in the win over the Panthers.
Related: 6 Different Capitals Score in 6-3 Win Over Panthers
By shutting down Florida’s power play, Washington continues to prove they have one of the best penalty-killing units in the league this season, ranked third with an 84% success rate, trailing only the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes at 85%. It’s an improvement over last season’s 81% kill rate, which ranked 10th in the league.
Capitals Role Players Critical to Win
This season, Washington’s third and fourth lines continue to provide offense for the club. Lars Ellers, their third-line center, scored a massive goal at 2:19 in the third frame to give Washington the edge. In 34 games this season, Eller has five goals and 11 points while averaging 12 minutes a night – a solid drop from the 15:08 average ice time he’s seen over his lengthy NHL career.
Four minutes later, fourth-line pivot Dowd added his 11th goal of the campaign to double Washington’s lead at 4-2. The American center has skated in all 53 games this season and is on pace to set new career highs in goals, assists, and points with 29 contests remaining. Dowd also has 10 assists and 21 points. The 6-foot-1 forward’s career high in goals (13) and points (25) was set two seasons ago with the Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin Buzzer-Beater Continues Goal Streak
Tuesday night’s win was sealed by an Aliaksei Protas empty-net goal that flipped the scoreboard to a 5-3 Washington advantage. However, an opportunistic Ovechkin found himself with the puck at his own blue line with three seconds on the clock. The Russian winger burst through the neutral zone, shifted to ensure his shot was not blocked by Florida’s Evan Rodrigues, and deposited the puck across the line with 0.1 seconds on the clock for his 25th goal of the season. It was the third straight game in which Ovechkin has celebrated a goal with his teammates.
Ovechkin increased his total to 878 regular-season goals with less than 30 games remaining this season. Washington’s captain is 16 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 regular-season goals. Despite missing a month of action due to injury, his 25 goals are tied for 12th in the NHL, and his 18.5% shot percentage is the highest it’s ever been, with a career average of 13% and a previous high of 15.4% during the 2019-20 season.
The Capitals have two games remaining before Ovechkin earns a two-week break while some members of the NHL community compete at the 4 Nations Face-Off. They face the Flyers in Philadelphia on Thursday and host the Utah Hockey Club on Sunday, Feb. 9, before the tournament begins on Wednesday, Feb. 12.