Ovechkin, Samsonov lift Capitals past Panthers in Game 3

WASHINGTON -- Alex Ovechkin scored his first goal of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Florida Panthers 6-1 in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round at Capital One Arena on Saturday.

The Capitals lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 will be here on Monday.
Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves for his first playoff win for the Capitals, the second wild card from the East. Samsonov was making his first start of the series after relieving Vitek Vanecek in a 5-1 loss in Game 2 on Thursday.
"I am ready all the time," Samsonov said. "Sometimes you start playoffs, sometimes another goalie, but you need to get ready for every game. I understand if you want to win [the Stanley Cup], you need to win 16 games."
Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson each had a goal and an assist for Washington, and Nicklas Backstrom and Anthony Mantha each had two assists.

"I think the boys did a really good job from the drop of the puck all the way through," Capitals forward T.J. Oshie said. "The score might have been 6-1, but we didn't score our first goal for a while and we had to grind it out for a little while and keep going and going and going."
Jonathan Huberdeau scored for the Panthers, the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division who won the Presidents' Trophy for having the best regular-season record in the NHL. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves.
"So far, the story written right now is they've out-competed us, out-willed us], pretty much in every puck battle, every area," Florida coach Andrew Brunette said. "Something we're going to have to figure out here."
***[RELATED: [Complete Panthers vs. Capitals series coverage]*
Washington was 2-for-6 on the power play. Florida was 0-for-3 and is 0-for-9 in the series.
"Make some adjustments, and obviously we're going to talk about it because 0-for-9 is unacceptable," Huberdeau said. "In the playoffs, you need these goals. It's important. We had some chances today and we didn't capitalize."
Huberdeau gave the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 2:45 of the first period, beating Samsonov far side with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle on a rush.
Oshie tied it 1-1 at 19:34 when he redirected Ovechkin's shot from the right point on a power play.

After Samsonov made a pad save on Aleksander Barkov, Johansson gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at 9:51 of the second period. Mantha's shot was blocked by Ben Chiarot, but Johansson backhanded the loose puck over Bobrovsky.
"[Samsonov] makes a big save, and then we go the other way and get one. It makes a big difference," Johansson said. "You're up 2-1 or you're down 2-1. 'Sammy' was unbelievable for us tonight."
Trevor van Riemsdyk made it 3-1 at 18:49. Bobrovsky made the initial save on Backstrom, but Johansson controlled the rebound and passed to van Riemsdyk, who scored with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Ovechkin extended the lead to 4-1 at 10:25 of the third period, scoring on a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Conor Sheary on a power play.
John Carlson made it 5-1 when he shot into an empty net from his own goal line at 15:40. Garnet Hathaway then scored at 19:18 for the 6-1 final.
"To me, frustration's taken over for some reason," Brunette said. "When you get frustrated, it usually means you're not working hard enough. Our compete has not been what it has been all year. It could be nerves, but we have to find a way."
NOTES: Florida was held to one goal or fewer in regulation for the first time since Jan. 21 (2-1 shootout win against the Vancouver Canucks). … Huberdeau has 18 playoff points, tying Ray Sheppard for the most in Panthers history. … Ovechkin scored his 72nd playoff goal to tie Esa Tikkanen and Patrick Marleau for 14th in NHL history. … Oshie scored his 14th postseason power-play goal with Washington, passing Peter Bondra for the second-most in Capitals history behind Ovechkin (27). … Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar had a game-high nine hits.