Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers Play the Hits in Loss to the Capitals

Sam Bennett said that the Florida Panthers loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday had a little playoff atmosphere, it was probably a little too wide open for Paul Maurice’s tastes.
Maurice said he certainly liked the way the Panthers looked in the first two periods.
Then, the Capitals scored twice in the first 6:10 of the third, and it was go time for the Panthers, who are typically on the list of the NHL best bets.
Florida did have its forecheck on full display with 46 hits in the game, but Florida never led and a pair of empty-net goals in the final two minutes made Washington’s 6-3 win look a lot more lopsided than it was.
Before Alinksei Protas scored the empty-net goal no one in Washington ended up giving a flip about with 1:39 left, the Panthers were pressing hard down a goal.
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Carter Verhaeghe’s shot attempt in which his stick snapped led to that goal from Protas — with Alex Ovechkin coming one goal closer to Wayne Gretzky with his empty-netter with .10 seconds left on the clock.
“It didn’t get as physical as I thought it would get to,” said Maurice, alluding to Washington having just 17 hits in the game. “If the two teams play in the playoffs, it will be much heavier than that. Other than that, it was pretty much what we thought it would look like.”
If these two teams do meet in the playoffs for the second time since 2022, it likely would not happen until the Eastern Conference finals.
Washington is more than likely going to win the Metropolitan Division title and, barring a collapse in the final 26 games, Florida will probably end up no worse than third in the Atlantic.
As it was, the two teams came into Tuesday leading their respective divisions.
It was a game that lived up to expectations.
Despite going down 4-2 in the third, Florida got a goal from Matthew Tkachuk at 7:46 on a 4-on-4, and the Panthers outshot the Capitals 14-6 in the period.
Two of those shots from the Caps, obviously, came with Sergei Bobrovsky watching from the bench.
Washington’s second goal came on a shorthanded chance, and its third and fourth came on breakaways.
“It was a really tight game all the way until the third,” Bennett said. “Two good teams going at it. It kind of had a playoff feel. Two good teams, but they were a little better in the third than us.”
Said Maurice: “We don’t turn over pucks in the offensive zone, and we did, and it’s in our net … The margin for error for two good teams is pretty tight.”
Both teams would take a playoff rematch — the two do have one more meeting in Washington next month — and the intensity would be, as Maurice noted, much more intense.
And, it’s hard to imagine the Capitals would like to see the Panthers in a best-of-7 especially after what the hard-hitting team did to Carolina and the Rangers in the past two conference finals.
Even though the Panthers saw their modest three-game winning streak end, this game meant a lot more to the Capitals as they came in with losses in three of their previous four.
“We did a good job to beat that team,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “Good test. It took everything we had, so, proud of the guys. Good win.”
ON DECK: GAME No. 56
FLORIDA PANTHERS at ST. LOUIS BLUES
- When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
- Where: Enterprise Center, St. Louis
- 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 (Panthers Lead 1-0) — At Florida: Panthers 2, Blues 1 (Dec. 20). At St. Louis: Thursday.
- Last Season: Even 1-1
- All-time Regular Season Series: St. Louis leads 27-14-1, 3 ties
- Up Next for the Panthers: Saturday vs. Ottawa Senators, 7 p.m.

Not too worried about wasington in the post season, they have guys having career years, contributing big numbers, who have never been to the big dance. Will ALL of them produce at that same level once the games really matter? Possibly, but if history has taught us anything, it’s that it’s VERY hard to win it all the first time trying. without truly knowing what it takes to do so, the sacrifices that have to be made. It’s almost impossible to really understand whqt it takes until you’ve experienced it. My guess is, they win one game in the first… Read more »