Panthers Win Another Overtime game Defeating the Washington Capitals 4-3

For the second straight game, the Florida Panthers took the win in overtime, beating the Washington Capitals 4-3. This time, it was a pass off the boards from Aleskander Barkov to Sam Reinhart to take the win 15 seconds into the extra frame. 

After receiving a pass off the half board, Reinhart had to jockey with Washington Capitals forward Evgeni Kuznetsov before burying his ninth goal of the year. Fifteen seconds is the fastest overtime goal in Florida Panthers history.

Puck don’t lie

— Alex Krutchik (@AlexKrutchikFOF) November 9, 2023

It was a back-and-forth battle on Wednesday, with three ties and four lead changes.

The Panthers allowed the first goal of the game with 9:18 left in the first period when Capitals forward Anthony Mantha entered the offensive zone and attempted a cross-ice pass that wound up deflecting off Anton Lundell in the slot and bounced through Sergei Bobrovsky’s legs.

The Panthers scored two unanswered goals in the first period. The first was a wrist shot from Oliver Ekman-Larsson from just above the right circle, and the second was a feed from Reinhart to Barkov for a one-timer from the left faceoff dot.

The second period was all Washington, with the Capitals outscoring the Panthers 2-0 thanks to two odd-man rushes. The first was a breakaway with Aliaksei Protas passing to Connor McMichael who lifted the puck just above Bobrosvky’s blocker. The second goal was started by McMichael, who stole a pass from Panthers defenseman Mike Reilly and raced down the ice with Mantha on a 2-on-1 breakaway. McMichael passed the puck to Mantha to bury the go-ahead goal.

The Capitals could’ve added to their lead a few minutes earlier. With 8:26 left in the second period, Capitals forward Sonny Milano tapped in a rebound that got past Bobrovsky. The Panthers wanted a penalty called on Tom Wilson for slew-footing Eetu Luostarinen in the corner just seconds earlier.

In a “puck don’t lie” moment, the Panthers successfully challenged the play for being offside, negating the goal.

I think Gustav Forsling just had the pass of the year so far. From the left blue line to the right side of the crease, somehow buzzed the puck through three Washington skaters

— Alex Krutchik (@AlexKrutchikFOF) November 9, 2023

Down 3-2 with 16:27 left in the third period, Gustav Forsling may have had the assist of the season. From the left side of the blue line, the defenseman made a cross-ice pass into heavy traffic that split two Capitals defensemen to find Evan Rodrigues at the right side of the crease. All Rodrigues had to do was tap the puck in for the game-tying goal.

One player that was hardly noticed during the game was Alex Ovechkin. The 38-year-old future Hall-of-Famer was kept to just two shots on goal, both on the powerplay in the third period. Ovechkin has two goals in 11 games this year and hasn’t scored since October 25 against the New Jersey Devils.

The Panthers come back to Sunrise on Friday for an Eastern Conference Finals rematch against the Carolina Hurricanes. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.