Beach Party Tonight – The Caps conclude a two-game road trip and play the last of their 41 road games in calendar 2025 when they face the Florida Panthers tonight at Amerant Bank Arena. The Caps enter the game on the heels of a 4-3 overtime win over the Devils in New Jersey in Saturday’s trip opener, their first game back in action after the NHL’s annual three-day holiday break.
Saturday’s win was just the second for Washington in seven overtime/shootout games this season, and Jakob Chychrun supplied the game winner in both of the Caps’ victories beyond the game’s 60th minute.
Despite being outplayed in the first 40 minute by the Devils, the Caps carried a 2-1 lead into the third period, but they fell behind when the Devils struck for two tallies less than a minute apart in the front half of the third. The Caps arrested that momentum and swung it their way when Alex Ovechkin tied the game at 9:17 of the third, ending a nine-game goal drought with a clutch marker.
“That's definitely tough,” says Caps defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk of playing that Dec. 27 game on the road. “You go into the third, and we didn't play our best to even get to that point. [Logan Thompson] did a great job to put us in a great position. They kind of seized momentum there, and we took it back.
“And yeah, those are tough ones to kind of dig deep. Obviously, it was a hectic day. You're up early, [you’re] flying, and to be able to muster up the energy to get it tied, and then winning in overtime was huge for us.”
Tonight’s game with the Cats should feel more like a normal game day. The Caps have been in town for over 36 hours, they’ve had a full practice and an optional morning skate, and routines have returned to more or less normal.
“Obviously that [win] was huge for momentum,” says van Riemsdyk. “And obviously it’s nice to get this day, get some sunlight, get some vitamin D, get your energy restored, and it should be a great game tonight. They’re obviously a great team that plays hard, and it should be a good test for us.”
Florida has won eight of its last 11 games, and tonight is the second game of a five-game homestand. The Montreal Canadiens are already in town; they shared the Panthers’ practice facility with the Caps at Monday morning’s skate as they prepare to provide the opposition for the middle match of Florida’s homestand on Tuesday. And on Friday, the Panthers host the New York Rangers in the 2026 Winter Classic. The Caps host the Rangers in a Wednesday matinee match.
“The key tonight for me is how quickly can we understand the differences from the New Jersey Devils and the game flow of that game versus playing against the Florida Panthers,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “It’s just a different style of game.
“So, if we can understand and, not adapt to that, but understand what’s required to get through that, and how much forecheck pressure you’re going to take and how much pressure you’re going to feel just in general, that’s going to be the key.”
Fourth Time Around – Tonight in Sunrise, Fla, the Caps will play the 4,000th regular season game of their NHL existence, doing so in a city and against a team that did not exist when they played their first ever NHL game – also on the road – on Oct. 9, 1974 against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
“Really cool,” says van Riemsdyk of the franchise milestone. “There’s probably a lot of wins in there, too, especially as of late. Since [Alex Ovechkin] got here to kind of change hockey in the area and to really make it flourish, you see how popular it’s become in this area and how successful the team is.
“I think to a lot of guys – whether it’s free agents or whatever it may be – this is a spot they know has got a great culture from top to bottom that they want to be a part of, so it’s pretty cool to see.”
Among the Original 30 NHL teams, the Caps’ .537 all-time points percentage has them as the 12th best regular season team in the League since they entered the circuit in 1974-75. And since Dick Patrick arrived on the scene in the summer of 1982, and he hired David Poile as Washington’s general manager, and Poile in turn made the six-player Sept. 9 trade with Montreal that brought Brian Engblom, Doug Jarvis, Rod Langway and Craig Laughlin to the Capitals, their .575 points percentage is second among the Original 30, behind only Boston’s .590.
“Coming into the organization and learning at the NHL level, I knew a lot about it when I was coaching in the minors for the Caps,” says Carbery. “But I think last year really opened my eyes up to the appreciation of the 50th anniversary, of meeting a lot of the alumni at the beginning of the year and all the different events they had, and just talking to some of the original players that were here from day one and all the, I don't want to say ‘hard times,’ but we took our licks as an organization early on.
“And they sort of set the foundation and built and did a lot of the heavy lifting to create what the Washington Capitals have become today. It was pretty cool to talk to some of those guys and to be able to really generate a true appreciation of where the organization came from, way back when. So, being in the 51st year and 4,000 games later is pretty incredible.”
In The Nets – Coming off a sturdy 35-save performance in Washington’s 4-3 overtime victory over the Devils in New Jersey, Thompson starts again for the Caps tonight in Florida. In his last dozen starts, Thompson is 7-3-2 with a pair of shutouts, a 2.30 GAA and a .925 save pct.
Lifetime against the Panthers, Thompson is 4-2-0 in six appearances – all starts – with a 3.19 GAA and a .900 save pct.
For the Panthers, Sergei Bobrovsky is the likely starter tonight. Bobrovsky’s current .888 save pct. is the lowest of his 16-year NHL career. But at 16-9-1 on the season, he is also on pace for the ninth 30-win season of his career.
Lifetime against Washington, Bobrovsky is 14-14-5 in 35 appearances – all starts – with a shutout, a 3.01 GAA and an .899 save pct.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Panthers might look on Monday night in Sunrise, and how the Caps looked on Saturday in New Jersey. Carbery says the same group of players will be on the ice tonight in Florida, but there will be some alterations in the line combinations:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
24-McMichael, 34-Sourdif, 8-Ovechkin
21-Protas, 17-Strome, 43-Wilson
9-Leonard, 26-Dowd, 53-Frank
22-Duhaime, 29-Lapierre, 72-Beauvillier
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
6-Chychrun, 3-Roy
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
48-Thompson
79-Lindgren
Healthy Extras
15-Milano
47-Chisholm
52-McIlrath
Injured/Out
80-Dubois (lower body)
FLORIDA
Forwards
27-Luostarinen, 15-Lundell, 13-Reinhart
23-Verhaeghe, 9-Bennett, 63-Marchand
11-Samoskevich, 17-Rodrigues, 10-Greer
70-Boqvist, 71-Kunin, 53-Studnicka
Defensemen
42-Forsling, 5-Ekblad
77-Mikkola, 3-Jones
26-Balinskis, 2-Petry
Goalies
72-Bobrovsky
40-Tarasov
Healthy Extras
6-Sebrango
18-Gregor
Injured/Out
7-Kulikov (upper body)
12-Gadjovich (upper body)
16-Barkov (knee)
19-Tkachuk (groin)
79-Schwindt (arm)
92-Nosek (knee)
