Panthers at Capitals | Recap

WASHINGTONAlex Ovechkin scored his 878th NHL goal in the Washington Capitals 6-3 win against the Florida Panthers at Capital One Arena on Tuesday.

Ovechkin scored into an empty net with one second remaining to move within 17 goals of passing Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894. Ovechkin has scored in three straight games and has 25 goals on the season.

“Something special’s happening,” forward Tom Wilson said. “The poise for him to fake the shot with three seconds left and put it in with a tenth of a second left … it’s ‘cause it’s Gretzky I guess. So, we’ll keep chasing here and it’s pretty amazing to see that one go in with that much time left.”

FLA@WSH: Ovechkin scores empty netter with less than a second left for No. 878

Nic Dowd had a goal and two assists for the Capitals (35-11-7), who have a 14-game home point streak (10-0-4), but had lost their past two games in overtime. Logan Thompson made 30 saves.

“We did a good job to beat that team,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “It’s a good test. It took everything we had, so proud of the guys. Good win.”

Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (32-20-3), who had won three straight and were tied 2-2 after two periods. Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves.

"We had a couple good looks, and then they capitalized on their looks,” Bennett said of the third period. “I think we were pushing a little bit too hard for a goal and gave up a couple too many odd-mans and gave up too many good scoring chances and they capitalized.”

Andrew Mangiapane gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 14:08 of the first period when he received a pass in the left circle from Rasmus Sandin, spun and scored over Bobrovsky’s right shoulder.

Bennett, who will represent Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20, tied it 1-1 at 19:30. Jesper Boqvist intercepted a Sandin pass and fed in front to a wide-open Bennett, who scored on a backhander after Thompson stopped his initial shot.

Wilson gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead with a short-handed goal at 1:15 of the second period. Aliaksei Protas entered the zone 2-on-1 and slid the puck between Matthew Tkachuk’s skates to Wilson for the one-timer.

FLA@WSH: Wilson rips the dish from Protas into the irons for SHG

Aleksander Barkov, who will captain Finland in the 4 Nations Face-Off, tied it 2-2 at 4:14, taking a pass from Carter Verhaeghe and scoring with a backhand shot on a breakaway after fending off the backcheck of Jakob Chychrun.

“A real powerful man, strong man,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said of Barkov. “Never goes down. Never quits on the play. He’s such an honest player. He’s hard to handle one-on-one.”

Lars Eller put the Capitals ahead 3-2 at 2:19 of the third period when he got to a loose puck in the neutral zone, split the defense and lifted a shot over Bobrovsky’s outstretched right pad.

“We go into the third with a tie and I think we’re able to elevate our game,” Eller said. “Find another level in the third when the game is tied and it could go either way. It just shows we’re comfortable playing in these types of situations.”

Dowd made it 4-2 at 6:10 when he tipped in a centering pass from Mangiapane on the rush during a delayed penalty.

“Typically, I try to get off in those situations -- 6-on-5 -- and let our power play guys come on,” Dowd said. “I actually asked [Dylan Strome] if I should get off and he said ‘stay.’ I watched 'Mange' make a couple of nice plays through the neutral zone and I just drove the net with my stick on the ice and he found me back door.”

FLA@WSH: Dowd with a goal against Bobrovsky

Tkachuk, who will play for Team United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off, pulled the Panthers within 4-3 at 7:46, scoring on a wrist shot from the right face-off dot off a pass from Nate Schmidt to extend his goal streak to four games.

"It was a really tight game all the way until the third,” Bennett said. “It was two good teams going at it. It was kind of like a playoff feel. Good teams, and they were a little better in the third than us."

Protas scored into an empty net at 18:21 to make it 5-3.

NOTES: Ovechkin recorded his 19th career 25-goal season, the second most in NHL history behind Gordie Howe (20). … Thompson has a 14-game point streak (12-0-2). His last regulation loss was against the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 17 (3-2). … Protas has nine points (four goals, five assists) in his past eight games. … Tkachuk has seven points (four goals, three assists) during the four-game point streak. … Barkov, who’ll captain Team Finland at the 4 Nations Face-Off, has seven points (two goals, five assists) during a four-game streak.

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