The Florida Panthers won their sixth game in a row on Saturday night against the Washington Capitals, thanks to a tie-breaking goal by Matthew Tkachuk in the last minute of the game. He also had two assists during the match.
Sam Reinhart scored a goal and had an assist, and Carter Verhaeghe and Aaron Ekblad also added goals for the Florida Panthers. This helped them become the top wild card team in the Eastern Conference. They have 91 points, which is tied with the New York Islanders, but they won more games so they are ahead.
“We have to keep going,” said Tkachuk. Other teams are winning and we can make it too if we just keep up the wins. Everybody wants it badly so we’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens. Aleksander Barkov gave two helpers, and Alex Lyon stopped 22 shots for the Panthers.
Tom Wilson scored a goal and an assist, Dylan Strome also added on a goal, but Washington still lost their sixth straight game. That means they won’t be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in nine years. Charlie Lindgren was amazing, blocking 33 shots and preventing it from becoming even more of a blowout.
Dylan said that even though they aren’t making playoffs this year, they’re still trying to make sure others can stay away from the win too. He gave credit to Lindgren for not giving up any goals in the third period despite Washington being so desperate for points.
The Capitals had a really small team for this game – only 17 players. That’s because superstars like Alex Ovechkin, Anthony Mantha, T.J. Oshie and Trevor van Riemsdyk were injured and couldn’t play. And when Ovechkin doesn’t play the team doesn’t have any luck. In fact, lately the Capitals are 0-7 without him and have lost the last 10 games he hasn’t been in!
Washington’s coach Peter Laviolette felt disappointed with how the game ended. He praised his team for playing very hard and trying their best against the obstacles they faced.
The first period was pretty quiet, and two goals by Florida could not be marked due to high sticks. But in the second period, both teams managed to score points.
Strome scored the first goal at 8:51 in the second period. His goal counted as his third one in a row and 21st of this season. Two minutes after that, Verhaeghe made a shot which sailed past Lindgren – putting the Panthers on the scoreboard.
Ekblad gave the Florida Panthers a 2-1 advantage by scoring during a power play at 13:47 of the second period. But soon later, Wilson evened up the score when he drove to the net and redirected Coner Sheary’s pass.
In the third period, The Panthers were dominating in terms of possession and Tkachuk scored his 40th goal of the season to take back the lead. Reinhart then sealed off the win with an empty netter.
Coach Paul Maurice said the game was intense and they had to work hard in order to push through it. As the game moved into overtime, he could feel the pressure inside their team. Even though they had two goals which were waved off early on, his players still managed to stay focused and give their best performance in the third period – which was much better than before. He believes this is a sign of success moving forward as a team.
Alexander Ovechkin has only missed 54 games throughout his NHL career. Beck Malenstyn was recalled to play in his first game since breaking his finger on November 1. Aaron Ekblad, Brandon Montour, and Matthew Tkachuk have all been successful points-wise recently – they are each on a streak of at least 5 consecutive games with points earned. The Florida Panthers will be hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday evening.
On Monday night, the New York Islanders will be playing at the Capital’s field. For more information about this event and other hockey news, follow @AP_Sports on Twitter or visit their website: https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL.
