Home, Sweet Home: Marchand Gets No. 1,000; Panthers Hold Off Capitals

SUNRISE — The Florida Panthers are going to be home for the better part of the next three weeks and kicked things off in style Thursday against the Washington Capitals.

After falling behind midway through the first, the Panthers scored three unanswered goals and beat the Capitals 6-3.

Florida is 6-1-1 at home this season.

Brad Marchand had a pair of third-period assists to get his 1,000th NHL point. His milestone came on an empty-netter by Eetu Luostarinen.

“It doesn’t matter how it gets done,” Marchand said, “it was just fun to be a part of it.”

Down 1-0, Evan Rodrigues scored from the slot before Cole Schwindt gave the Panthers their first lead 3:05 into the second.

Sam Reinhart got his first of two to give Daniil Tarasov (37 saves) a little breathing room at 3-1.

Reinhart made it 4-2 with a sweet shot off a feed from Anton Lundell at 4:54 of the third.

Tarasov got his first win as a member of the Panthers after starting out 0-3-1.

NOTEBOOK: CAPITALS at PANTHERS

• Brad Marchand had his five-game goal streak end but that did not really matter in the end.
• Both Rodrigues and Jones scored their 100th goal on Thursday; Gus Forsling got his 200th point by assisting on Schwindt’s goal.
• Brandon Duhaime, who opened the scoring, was born in Coral Springs and played for the Jr. Panthers. He has a career-high three-game goal streak.
• Jakob Chychrun, another former Jr. Panther, had the primary assist on the third-period goal scored by former Panthers forward Justin Sourdif.

GOALS OF THE GAME

• Capitals 1, Panthers 0 (8:25 1st): A turnover off the halfwall leads to a Rasmus Sandin slap shot from above the right circle that is deflected in by South Florida’s Brandon Duhaime.
• Panthers 1, Capitals 1 (8:53 1st): A dump-in along the end boards is dug out by Carter Verhaeghe with Niko Mikkola’s shot into traffic being redirected right onto the stick of Evan Rodrigues who buries it from the slot for his 100th career goal.
• Panthers 2, Capitals 1 (3:05 2nd): Cole Schwindt deflects a point shot from Gus Forsling; that’s 200 career NHL points for Forsling.
• Panthers 3, Capitals 1 (14:41 2nd PP): Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart were all over a loose puck in front of the net off a Carter Verhaeghe rebound with Reinhart roofing it home.
• Panthers 3, Capitals 2 (0:52 3rd): Jakob Chychrun’s shot from the left circle finds Justin Sourdif down low for even more South Florida scoring connections for the Capitals.
• Panthers 4, Capitals 2 (4:54 3rd): Anton Lundell feeds a wide-open Reinhart from the end boards with Reinhart pulling in the puck and getting Logan Thompson to commit before rifling one through.
• Panthers 5, Capitals 2 (9:47 3rd PP): Seth Jones gets his 100th goal when a shot that looked like it went off the cage actually went in. Brad Marchand gets his 999th NHL point.
• Panthers 5, Capitals 3 (12:40 3rd): Sandin scores on a point shot through traffic.
• Panthers 6, Capitals 3 (18:30 3rd EN): That’s 1,000 points for Marchand as he feeds Eetu Luostarinen for the empty-netter.

FHN’S 3 STARS

• 1. Brad Marchand, Panthers
• 2. Sam Reinhart, Panthers
• 3. Daniil Tarasov, Panthers

ON DECK: GAME 18

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING at FLORIDA PANTHERS

• When: Saturday, 5 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FtL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WQAM; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• Season Series — At Florida: Saturday; Dec. 27. At Tampa Bay: Dec. 15; Feb. 5
• Last Regular Season: Tied 2-2
• Last Postseason: Florida won 4-1 (Round 1)
• All-time Regular Season Series: Florida leads 79-53-19, 10 ties
• All-Time Postgame Series — Tied 2-2: Lightning won 2021 first-round, 2022 ECS; Panthers won 2024, 2025 first-round series