Nov. 13 vs. Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 THE FAN/Caps Radio Network
Washington Capitals (8-7-1)
Florida Panthers (8-7-1)
The Caps wrap up their four-game, eight-day road trip on Thursday night in Florida against the Panthers. As they take the ice in Sunrise in the trip finale, the Capitals are seeking a split for the journey.
After dropping the first two games of the trip in a pair of close contests, the Caps got back in the win column on Thursday night in Raleigh with a convincing 4-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Caps put their hosts on their heels in the first period, using that strong start as a springboard to a much-needed victory.
After starting the season with six wins in their first eight games (6-2-0), the Caps won just one of their next seven (1-5-1) before getting right in Raleigh on Tuesday. Washington’s process didn’t slip during its slide; the Caps’ underlying numbers and analytics were solid throughout, and they’ve put themselves in a position to win all but one game thus far this season.
But Tuesday’s triumph over a loathed divisional opponent – a game in which they never trailed and one in which they won both the special teams and the 5-on-5 wars within – gave the Caps some needed positive feedback from their collective game.
“Analytically, I think that we’re a really good team, from what it’s shown through the first 15 [games],” says Caps center Dylan Strome, author of Tuesday’s night’s game-winning goal. “But it’s nice to get results. Try telling 20 hockey players that you’re great analytically, but you’re .500. It doesn’t go so well.
“We just tried to stick with it, and tonight I thought we played really well. We’re going to need to carry that into this next stretch coming up; we’ve got a lot of good teams that are coming to play. It’s going to be a bit of a grind here coming up for the next 15-20 days or so, but nice start to it, and hopefully we can keep going.”
Through the team’s brief slump, Caps coach Spencer Carbery resisted making significant changes to his team’s lineup or either of its special team outfits. Tuesday’s win over the Hurricanes supplies affirmation that the Caps are on the right track.
“Our group knew this was a big hockey game for us,” says Carbery. “This was a really, really important game for our team for a bunch of different reasons. And you could go down the list of us struggling. You could go down the list of our issues that we've had with this team in this building. It's been a couple years since we won here, including the playoffs.
“There's a lot of reasons why tonight was really important for us to put a good performance on display, and you're playing against one of the best teams in the National Hockey League. You're trying to validate that we can play with teams like this when you're going through a stretch like we are, and we've lost whatever we have, even though we've played well in lots of the games.
“So yeah, it was an important game. It's one game. I understand that, but I think it's a little bit of affirmation that we're doing the right things, and we’ve got to stay with it. We've got a long way to go, but it was a really, really important game.”
Heading into Wednesday night’s slate of NHL activity, a mere nine points separate the 16 Eastern Conference clubs in the NHL. The Caps and the Cats are both sitting with 17 points, three above the bottom and six from the top. And as Strome notes, Washington’s upcoming schedule is littered with quality opponents. If the Caps are to climb closer to the top of the pile – where they firmly believe they belong – they’ll need to keep wrangling points from quality opponents such as Carolina and Florida.
“That’s a heck of an effort,” says Caps defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who netted the 100th goal of his career on a Washington power play in the third period. “And that’s one we’re going to look to build off, no doubt. I think that was just a very well-rounded game. We had a heck of a start; our first period was awesome. And those are the games you’ve got to build off. We’ve been itching for one like that, so hopefully we can roll with it and finish off the road trip.”
Washington conducted an optional practice on Wednesday in Ft. Lauderdale, and just ahead of that session, it announced the promotion of Patrick Wellar from assistant coach with AHL Hershey to the same post with the Capitals. Wellar has been working with the team's defensemen since before the start of training camp, and he held similar responsibilities during his seven seasons on the job with Hershey.
"I'm thrilled for him and his family," says Carbery of Wellar. "He's worked extremely hard for this opportunity, and I've seen it firsthand and witnessed everything that he's put in, sacrificed through the minor leagues, through his time in the American Hockey League in Hershey, and he's earned every bit of the oppotunity to be a National Hockey League assistant coach."
Coming off two straight Stanley Cup championships – and three straight trips to the Cup Final – the Panthers are dealing with some injury woes in the first quarter of 2025-26. Since the season started, they’ve been without both Matthew Tkachuk (groin) and Sasha Barkov (knee), two of their top six forwards and best players.
They’re also without bottom six center Thomas Nosek (knee) and blueliner Dmitry Kulikov (upper body), the latter of whom played for both Florida Cup championship squads. Kulikov has played in just two games this season and he is also out of action on a long-term basis.
The Panthers are just back from a four-game road trip through California, with a final stop in Vegas tacked on at the end. The Cats alternated wins and losses on that journey, and they came home 2-2-0 after their 3-2 victory over Vegas in the trip finale on Monday night.
For the Cats, Thursday’s game is the opener of a five-game homestand and the beginning of a stretch in which Florida will play 11 of its next 12 games on home ice. The Panthers are 5-1-1 at home this season.
