Panthers Plan for Ovechkin? ‘Keep the Big Guy Under 7’

COLUMBUS — When Paul Maurice slipped out of the coaches’ office at Nationwide Arena to fulfill his media obligations Thursday, the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin were on the television.

So, when asked about Florida’s next opponent, Maurice did not exactly know where Ovechkin stood in his march toward hockey history.

“The net was empty when I came out to talk to you,’’ Maurice said.

Ovechkin did not score more than once Thursday in the Capitals’ 3-2 win over the Flyers on Thursday — leaving him seven goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record of 894 goals.

What was once unthinkable is now reality: Someone is going to break the Great One’s record, and it is going to be Alex Ovechkin.

The Panthers just do not want it to come against them.

At least not tonight.

“We’re just going to try and keep the Big Guy under seven,’’ Maurice said. “Keep him under seven, then we can get out of town.’’

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Ovechkin has scored quite a few of his 888 goals against the Panthers over the years — 45 of them, exactly.

That is fourth-highest against all teams, having scored 52 against the Flyers.

Florida and Ovechkin certainly have an interesting story, starting with the Panthers famously trying to take him in the 2003 NHL Draft, a year before he was eligible and taken first overall by the Capitals.

Ovechkin missed the cutoff to be eligible to be drafted in 2003 by just two days.

Alan Cohen, Florida’s owner at the time, came up with the reasoning that if leap years were taken out of the equation, Ovechkin was old enough to be drafted.

Then-GM Rick Dudley, who is currently a senior advisor in Bill Zito’s front office, went to the draft table numerous times trying to sell the NHL on the idea that, yes, Ovechkin should be draft eligible, and that the Panthers wanted to take him with one of their picks.

The NHL did not buy it, and the Washington and Florida franchises were changed because of it.

Ovechkin did join the Capitals for the 2005-06 season after the first lockout wiped out what would have been his rookie season.

Playing in the Southeast Conference along with Florida until 2013, Ovechkin inflicted a lot of pain on the Panthers over the years.

He did score his most goals against Florida until recently when Philadelphia, Carolina, and the Rangers, took the Panthers place atop Ovechkin’s list.

Ovechkin has only played the Panthers once this season due to injury, and of course, he scored a goal.

Tonight’s game in Washington will feature the two top teams in the Eastern Conference.

On Thursday, the Capitals were the first team in the NHL to secure a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs with 100 points.

At 87 points, the Panthers are still a ways off from punching their own ticket.

Washington is 2-0 against Florida this season, winning 6-3 in their last meeting on Feb. 4.

The game was much closer than the final score would indicate.

Down 2 in the third, Matthew Tkachuk scored at 7:46 to bring Florida within 4-3. But the Capitals got two late empty-net goals — including one from Ovechkin at the buzzer — for the final margin of victory.

“I haven’t minded our game, I think we played pretty well in there,” Maurice said Thursday. “They are really good and they don’t need much to score, either. They have us by a whole bunch, probably scored 30 more goals (251-222) than we have this year. They capitalize on their opportunities — pardon the pun.”

ON DECK: GAME No. 70

FLORIDA PANTHERS at WASHINGTON CAPITALS

• When: Saturday, 5 p.m.
• Where: Capital One Arena, Washington
• Local TV: Scripps Sports — WSFL 39 (Miami/FTL); WHDT 9 (WPB); LAFF 36.3 (SWFla)
• Streaming: Panthers+, ESPN+
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932, NHL App
• This Season (Capitals Lead 2-0) — At Washington: Capitals 6, Panthers 3 (Feb. 4); Saturday. At Florida: Capitals 4 Panthers 1 (Nov. 25).
• Last Season: Panthers won 3-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Washington leads 68-48-13, 9 ties
• Up Next for the Panthers: Sunday vs. Pittsburgh Penguins, 6 p.m.