In Sunrise, there was no rallying for the Panthers on Tuesday night. The Washington Capitals scored three times in the third period to down the Panthers, 4-2, and take a 1-0 series lead.
“We liked the game we were playing the whole night and we just felt like if we stuck to it and stuck with it and played good defense that the offensive chances would keep coming and that eventually we could crack ’em,” Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said.
T.J. Oshie hit for the game-winner in the third to give the Caps a 3-2 lead.
Washington trailed 1-2 heading to the third.
“It looked like it was going to be a 2-on-2 right away,” Oshie said. “I was able to get a step on … I’m not sure who was over there … and you know typical ‘Nicky’ fashion, sauced it through a guy’s legs and right to my tape. I just redirected it, didn’t see it go in, so he had to come tell me that I scored. It is always nice to get that go-ahead goal in the third period and it was a great play by Nick.”
Vitek Vanecek made 29 saves in the Washington Win.
“First game is always important because you’re feeling really good after that,” Vanecek said. “The guys were buzzing today, the defense was tight and the offense was really good. I hope it will go the same way for the next game.”
Tom Wilson scored to give the Caps a 1-0 lead in the game.
The Panthers replied with goals from Sam Bennett and Claude Giroux for the 2-1 advantage after two periods.
“We let one slip away,” the Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad said. “I like to think we’re gonna learn a valuable lesson from this and try and do things a little bit differently with the lead in the third period.”
The Capitals started the rally with a goal from Evgeny Kuznetsov to tie the game, 2-2.
Game 2 is on Thursday night in Sunrise.
“We’re still in good spirits,” Bennett said. “We still know how good of a team we are. So there’s no panic in the locker room whatsoever. Everyone’s still positive. So we will learn from that game and move on. It’s a long series.”
Lars Eller hit for an empty-netter for the 4-2 final.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 34 saves in the Florida loss.
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