SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Carter Verhaeghe scored twice in the final minutes and the Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Tuesday night.
Verhaeghe, who had six goals and 12 points in Florida’s six-game playoff series win over Washington last spring, scored on a loose puck to give the Panthers a two-goal lead with 3 minutes remaining before scoring into an empty net with 1:24 left.
Florida also got goals from Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart and Nick Cousins, while Sergei Bobrovsky made 40 saves for his first win since Nov. 3.
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Dylan Strome and John Carlson scored for Washington.
Florida improved to 5-1-1 at home and is on a 16-2-1 regular-season run in Sunrise dating to last season.
Bobrovsky, making his first start since Nov. 5 at Los Angeles, only faced nine shots in the opening period before the Capitals started to warm up.
Barkov gave the Panthers the initial lead, blasting a shot past Darcy Kuemper (40 saves) from the high slot. It was Barkov’s fourth goal of the season and first not on a power play.
Reinhart got a power-play goal for the Panthers — their eighth in the past nine games — by batting a shot by Aaron Ekblad out of the air.
Matthew Tkachuk recorded his 400th career point with the secondary assist on the goal.
Holding a 2-1 lead going into the third, Cousins gave Florida some breathing room by snaring a pass from Gustav Forsling and driving around Kuemper, scoring as he lost his footing at 7:02 of the period.
Carlson brought the Capitals within a goal by driving between two defenders and knocking in a shot from Erik Gustafsson past Bobrovsky.
Washington went 0-2 on this trip to Florida, getting outscored 10-3 by the Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
NOTES: Florida coach Paul Maurice was behind the bench for his 1,700th NHL regular-season game, which ranks fourth all-time. Maurice, 55, coached in his first game on Nov. 7, 1995 with the Hartford Whalers. He has coached the Whalers/Hurricanes (twice), Maple Leafs, Jets and Panthers. He passed Al Arbour for sixth all-time in victories with No. 783 last Wednesday against Carolina. … Peter Laviolette was back behind the Washington bench following a two-game absence after testing positive for COVID-19. Assistant Kevin McCarthy coached the team in its two games against Tampa Bay. … Forwards Connor McMichael and Nicolas Aube-Kubel as well as defenseman Alexander Alexeyev were healthy scratches for the Capitals.
UP NEXT
Capitals: Visit St. Louis on Thursday night.
Panthers: Host Dallas on Thursday night.
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