Dawn, Fla. — T.J. Oshie did not see his go-forward target get into the net. The Florida Panthers didn’t see this coming, both.
And suitable away, the major total seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs finds itself in some difficulties.
Oshie scored the go-ahead objective midway as a result of the 3rd interval, Vitek Vanecek stopped 30 shots and the Washington Capitals rallied past the leading-seeded Panthers 4-2 in the opener of their Eastern Meeting very first-round series Tuesday evening.
“It’s a single activity,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette reported. “Our fellas performed tricky tonight. We’ve bought to regroup tomorrow and get back again to operate.”
Tom Wilson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller also scored for Washington, which trailed 2-1 heading into the third time period. Teams experienced been -39-1 in opposition to Florida in the regular year when trailing following 40 minutes, -22- when undertaking so on the Panthers’ house ice.
The Capitals have to have dismissed all those figures. Here’s a range not truly worth disregarding: The past time Florida led a playoff series 1- was in 1997, and the Panthers squandered a prospect to change that on Tuesday night time.
“We allow one slip absent,” stated Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad, who returned following missing the final quarter of the standard year with a knee personal injury. “I’d like to consider we’re likely to learn a important lesson from this.”
Kuznetsov tied the recreation right after a Florida turnover with 11:46 left, then Oshie acquired behind the defense and tapped Nicklas Backstrom’s pinpoint move by Sergei Bobrovsky for what grew to become the winner 2:23 afterwards.
“Typically Nicky fashion, sauced it via a guy’s legs and appropriate on my tape,” Oshie claimed. “I just redirected. Did not see it go in, so he experienced to appear inform me that we scored. It is normally nice to get that go-in advance intention.”
Eller wrapped it up with an empty-netter with 49 seconds still left.
Claude Giroux and Sam Bennett scored for Florida. Bobrovsky stopped 34 photographs for the Panthers, the Presidents’ Trophy winners following an NHL-most effective 122 details in the regular year — and observed the residence-ice advantage slip absent in their playoff opener.
Game 2 is Thursday, again in Florida.
“We’re continue to in very good spirits,” Bennett claimed. “We however know how very good of a workforce we are. There’s no stress in the locker area whatsoever. Everyone’s nevertheless favourable. We’ll understand from that activity and go on. It’s a lengthy collection.”
The Panthers argued for an icing phone that did not come on the play where by the sport got tied. MacKenzie Weegar misplaced the puck soon after bouncing into Capitals star Alex Ovechkin close to middle ice, went down, and Kuznetsov skated in on your own on Bobrovsky. He beat him to the adhere aspect, tying the video game 2-2 with 11:46 still left.
Oshie’s go-ahead aim arrived not long afterward, and Florida by no means got the equalizer.
“First sport, it’s constantly vital,” Vanecek stated. “You feel definitely good just after that.”
Vanecek got the phrase from Laviolette on the Washington flight to Florida on Monday that he would be setting up. Laviolette’s information to Vanecek: Be massive like Bobrovsky.
And Vanecek sent.
The Panthers had 340 aims in the normal time and have been the NHL’s maximum-scoring crew because Pittsburgh in 1995-96 — which, perhaps coincidentally, was the previous (and only) period in which Florida has won a playoff sequence. The Panthers went to the Stanley Cup remaining that season, have not gotten past Spherical 1 because, and the higher-octane offense was mainly silenced in Game 1.
The Panthers located them selves on the penalty get rid of just 49 seconds into the recreation just after Radko Gudas acquired known as for high-sticking, and matters worsened when Weegar was strike with a delay of recreation simply call to give Washington 1:01 of 5-on-3 hockey.
The two-gentleman disadvantage was killed off. And Florida was one particular second absent from escaping the whole thing unscathed, before Wilson scored at 3:47 to give Washington a 1- lead.
But Wilson remaining the match not extensive afterward. He returned to the ice through a stoppage in participate in in the next period of time, skated a little bit as if to check something, then returned to the locker space. He was becoming evaluated postgame for a decreased-system damage.
“Anytime a player does not finish a video game, there’s a problem level with it,” Laviolette stated.
Bennett tied the activity late in the initially, Giroux made it 2-1 in the 2nd, but the Panthers were being blanked the relaxation of the way.
“It’s going to be a large amount more durable in the playoffs,” Bennett reported. “We discovered that tonight.”
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