Sam Reinhart scored twice and set up Aaron Ekblad’s game-winning goal in the Florida Panthers 5-3 victory over the Washington Capitals at Amerant Bank Arena.
Tom Wilson scored the first of his two first period goals at the 3:53 mark to give the Capitals an early lead. Dylan Strome sent Martin Fehérváry away on a rush and after the blueliner’s shot was stopped by the Sergei Bobovsky, Wilson easily potted the rebound.
The Panthers countered 42 seconds later when Aliaksei Protas threw puck into the slot and Jeff Petry collected and found Anton Lundell for the back-door deflection.
Reinhart would notch his 20th of the season at 12:45 with Ethen Frank off for slashing. Mackie Samoskevich gained the zone and dished off to Reinhart, who centered to Brad Marchand. Marchand dropped to the trailing Seth Jones and he backhanded it to Reinhart, who skated into the right circle and snapped off a shot that caught the shin pad of Trevor van Riemsdyk and soared over Logan Thompson into the top shelf.
The Capitals would score on the first segment of Jones’ double-minor for high-sticking to knot the score late in the frame, working a well-executed play that saw Jeff Chychrun pass down low to Strome, who fed Wilson in the bumper spot at 19:17.
After a second that belonged to the goalies, Strome put up his third point of the night, scoring from long range through a screen on a delayed penalty 3:11 into the final frame from Wilson and Protas.
Marchand would tie the tilt 3:05 later with a dazzling display of hand-eye coordination, one second after Alex Ovechkin’s interference minor expired. After taking a pass from Jones, Sam Bennett let go of a hard shot that Marchand deflected on Thompson. The puck ramped up into the air off the goalie and Marchand batted it home for his 22nd of the campaign.
The decisive blow came with 6:48 remaining in regulation, following a failed connection between Reinhart and Eetu Luostarinen. Lundell would claim the loose puck in the left circle and pass to Reinhart down in the corner. Reinhart spotted Ekblad open in the inner edge of the right circle and sent him a perfect pass that the defenseman spanked over the glove of Thompson.
Reinhart would provide the clincher into the empty net with 35 ticks left on the clock, heaving a backhander from along the boards in his own end after the Cats killed off a late penalty that gave Washington a 6-on-4 advantage. The assists on the insurance goal were credited to Luostarinen, who had just emerged from the sin bin, and Ekblad.
The comeback win kept the Panthers ensconced in the second wild card spot, and left one point behind the Capitals, who hold down the first. The Cats will get right back at it tonight when the host the rested young and rested Montreal Canadiens in their final game before Friday night’s Winter Classic at LoanDepot Park.
- Aaron Ekblad earned the First Star for his key game-winning goal and assist. It was just his second marker of the season and first since October 11. Ekblad moved past Stephen Weiss into fourth place on the franchise’s all-time points list with 395.
- In addition to pouring in two goals and an assist to bump his point streak to five games, Sam Reinhart registered a team-high five shots. Reinhart became the second Panther to hit 20 goals and 40 points this season.
- Speaking of point streaks, Brad Marchand’s assist on Reinhart’s first goal extended his to eight games. It’s his second eight-gamer of the season. Marchand is up to 22 goals and 44 points in 37 games played.
- Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves and took sole possession of eighth place all-time by posting his 446th career win. A stellar glove save in the second period kept Tom Wilson from a hat trick.
- In addition to Reinhart, Ekblad and Marchand, Anton Lundell (1G/1A) and Seth Jones (2A) also had multi-point performances.
Stat Card
