The Washington Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers, 6-3, at Capital One Enviornment on Tuesday evening. The Capitals received the battle between two top-10 ranked particular groups models on the best way to their thirty fifth win of the season. A 2-2 impasse was damaged by a backside six that continues to offer offense and balanced scoring in Washington. With the victory celebration already underway, Alexander Ovechkin cashed in a buzzer-beater that moved him one skate nearer to Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal-scoring mark, whereas Logan Thompson picked up the win in web.
Capitals Penalty Kill Crew Turns Tables on Panthers
Tom Wilson’s short-handed objective gave Washington a 2-1 lead at 1:15 of the second interval. It was the workforce’s fourth objective on the penalty kill this season to maneuver them into the highest half of the league and tied with 4 different NHL groups in thirteenth place. The Panthers lead the league with 11 short-handed objectives this season. Wilson joins Nic Dowd, Andrew Mangiapane, and Aliaksei Protas because the workforce’s penalty-killers to web a short-handed marker this season. Coincidently, all 4 scored within the win over the Panthers.
Associated: 6 Totally different Capitals Rating in 6-3 Win Over Panthers
By shutting down Florida’s energy play, Washington continues to show they’ve probably the greatest penalty-killing models within the league this season, ranked third with an 84% success fee, trailing solely the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes at 85%. It’s an enchancment over final season’s 81% kill fee, which ranked tenth within the league.
Capitals Position Gamers Essential to Win
This season, Washington’s third and fourth strains proceed to offer offense for the membership. Lars Ellers, their third-line heart, scored an enormous objective at 2:19 within the third body to offer Washington the sting. In 34 video games this season, Eller has 5 objectives and 11 factors whereas averaging 12 minutes an evening – a strong drop from the 15:08 common ice time he’s seen over his prolonged NHL profession.
4 minutes later, fourth-line pivot Dowd added his eleventh objective of the marketing campaign to double Washington’s lead at 4-2. The American heart has skated in all 53 video games this season and is on tempo to set new profession highs in objectives, assists, and factors with 29 contests remaining. Dowd additionally has 10 assists and 21 factors. The 6-foot-1 ahead’s profession excessive in objectives (13) and factors (25) was set two seasons in the past with the Capitals.
Alex Ovechkin Buzzer-Beater Continues Aim Streak
Tuesday evening’s win was sealed by an Aliaksei Protas empty-net objective that flipped the scoreboard to a 5-3 Washington benefit. Nevertheless, an opportunistic Ovechkin discovered himself with the puck at his personal blue line with three seconds on the clock. The Russian winger burst by means of the impartial zone, shifted to make sure his shot was not blocked by Florida’s Evan Rodrigues, and deposited the puck throughout the road with 0.1 seconds on the clock for his twenty fifth objective of the season. It was the third straight sport by which Ovechkin has celebrated a objective along with his teammates.
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— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 5, 2025
Ovechkin elevated his whole to 878 regular-season objectives with lower than 30 video games remaining this season. Washington’s captain is 16 objectives away from tying Wayne Gretzky’s report of 894 regular-season objectives. Regardless of lacking a month of motion attributable to harm, his 25 objectives are tied for twelfth within the NHL, and his 18.5% shot proportion is the very best it’s ever been, with a profession common of 13% and a earlier excessive of 15.4% in the course of the 2019-20 season.
The Capitals have two video games remaining earlier than Ovechkin earns a two-week break whereas some members of the NHL group compete on the 4 Nations Face-Off. They face the Flyers in Philadelphia on Thursday and host the Utah Hockey Membership on Sunday, Feb. 9, earlier than the match begins on Wednesday, Feb. 12.
