In Washington, DC, Alex Ovechkin potted a hat trick on Friday in a 4-3 win for the Capitals over the Florida Panthers.
The win stopped a three-game slide by the Caps.
“If I have a chance to shoot it, I shoot,” Ovechkin said. “If I have a chance to pass, I pass. Simple game, you know?”
Ilya Samsonov made 19 saves in the Caps win.
The Caps improved to 13-3-5.
Jonathan Huberdeau, Sam Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe were the Panthers strikers.
“On the road you put yourself in a position where you’re down by two goals a couple of times it’s really hard to come back,” Florida head coach Andrew Brunette said. “It’s hard to chase games on the road in this league.”
Florida dropped to 14-3-3.
“We all know what to do on the power play. We’ve all played there. It’s not clicking right now,” Huberdeau said. “Too many turnovers. [Opposing teams are] having chances on their [penalty kill] and I think we’re just a little sloppy right now.”
Tom Wilson scored a single maker for Washington.
Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up three assists for the Caps.
“You want guys on the ice that are playing the game hard, that are smart, that know how to read things,” Laviolette said of Kuznetsov. “You get the opportunity and you’ve got to make the most of it. He’s done that on the penalty kill for sure.”
Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves in the Florida loss. . He left the ice twice in the second period, once briefly and then for an extended time, after a collision.
“Originally, it was the concussion protocol from, apparently, the spotter,” Brunette said. “He went in [the first time] and was evaluated by their physician and was cleared to go back and play. I’m not sure what happened after that. We were told he wasn’t evaluated, or he wasn’t passed [through] the protocol. Kind of got really gray there for a while.”
Spencer Knight yielded one goal on seven shots.
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