Carter Verhaeghe ended the debate in overtime and the Florida Panthers eliminated the Washington Capitals with a 4-3 victory on Friday night.
In the third minute of overtime, Claude Giroux grabbed the puck behind the net and circled before joining Verhaeghe in front of goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov. Verhaeghe fired a backhand shot that flickered at the red light.
This was Verhaeghe’s second overtime goal in the series. He also played heroes in the fourth duel, which is also controversial in Washington.
The Panthers won that series in six games and advanced to the second round for the first time since 1996.
Giroux finished the game with a goal and two assists while Ryan Lomberg and Aleksander Barkov added one goal each for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky blocked 34 shots in the win.
Nic Dowd, Nicklas Backstrom and TJ Oshie answered for the Capitals, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Samsonov gave up four times on 31 shots.
After a scoreless first period, but dominated by the Capitals, both teams hit the target once, in the second period.
Positioned in front of Bobrovsky’s net, Dowd accepted Garnet Hathaway’s pass and sent the puck to the horizontal bar. The return fell in front of him, however, and he pushed the disc behind the red line.
The Panthers ’fourth line responded, however, less than three minutes later. Eetu Luostarinen passed the puck to Patric Hornqvist, who saw Samsonov stop his shot. However, Lomberg followed the game well and reached the return mark.
The Capitals regained the lead in the second minute of the third period. Near the boards, Justin Schultz fired a high shot that was quickly deflected by Backstrom. The Swede took care that his stick was not higher than the horizontal bar.
Giroux returned both teams to square one when he took advantage of Samsonov’s largesse. The Panthers striker came on the right wing and he tricked the Russian guard between the pads.
With less than six minutes left in the game, Giroux worked well into the net and passed the puck on the other side to Barkov, who threaded a needle for the Florida squad.
The Panthers thought they could close the books in regulation time, the home team forced overtime with an odd consecutive 63 seconds left. Evgeni Kuznetsov fired a wrist shot and the puck spun in the air. Anthony Mantha hit him in the air against the horizontal bar before Oshie took it twice to create an equalizer.
Source: Radio-Canada
