"We know a little bit about them, played a lot against them in the playoffs," Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said of Washington. "They're a highly, highly skilled team. They can score from everywhere. We just need to be ready all the time and stay out of the box."
Sitting at 8-6-1 in the standings, the Panthers saw their two-game winning streak snapped with a 4-2 loss to Edmonton on Saturday. Scoring both of the goals against the Oilers, Sam Bennett extended his goal streak to three games and has lit the lamp four times during that hot stretch.
In net, Spencer Knight made 28 saves.
"It's a frustrating loss because you're well prepared and played hard," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice of Florida's first regulation loss at home this season. "The game flattened after the first, but it's going to because they've got a good team. … You know they're going to push a little bit. You felt you were left wanting and you felt your effort maybe deserved a little bit more."
Matthew Tkachuk, who returned to the lineup against the Oilers following a two-game suspension, leads the Panthers in scoring with 17 points (five goals, 12 assists). Stepping up in the absence of Aaron Ekblad, who also returned to action against Edmonton after a stint on LTIR, Brandon Montour is second on Florida in scoring with 15 points (four goals, 11 assists).
Verhaeghe leads the team with eight goals, while four other players have scored at least four.
Likely deserving a few more wins than they currently have, the Panthers have posted some incredibly encouraging underlying numbers. Per NaturalStatTrick.com, they rank third in the NHL in Corsi for percentage (58.49%) and expected goals-for percentage (56.86%) at 5-on-5.
"I think one of the strengths is that we adapt really quick," Barkov said. "I know it can take a while to get used to new systems, new everything, new guys around the team, but I think we've adapted really quick. We know each other really well. We know what to do on the ice."
Off to a rocky start, the Capitals have lost six of their last eight games, including a 6-3 loss at Tampa Bay on Sunday to fall to 7-8-2. In the loss, Conor Sheary, Lars Eller and Garnet Hathaway scored, while Darcy Kuemper surrendered four goals in the first period before being relieved in net.
Over the last eight games, Washington has scored two or fewer goals five times.
Showing no signs of slowing down, Alex Ovechkin leads the Capitals in both goals (8) and points (14). After him, Evgeny Kuznetsov is second in points (13) and first in assists (11). Of Ovechkin's goals this season, five have come on the power play.
"He's one of those guys you have to mark before the game," Barkov said of Ovechkin. "You think about him and how to defend that guy, how to not let the puck go to him. He can obviously score goals. We've seen that. We just need to be smart, stay out of the box and have good sticks on him."
While the Panthers have been getting healthier, the injury bug has been biting the Capitals. After already starting the season without forward Tom Wilson, defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forwards Nicklas Backstrom, Carl Hagelin, T.J. Oshie have also been dealing with injuries.
But even with those players missing, the Panthers won't be taking the Capitals lightly.
"They've got a creative style of they play with all of their players in the lineup," Maurice said. "I still think they're going to run that idea, but they've got a bunch of guys that are fighting for ice time and a job. When you lose a bunch of important players out of your lineup, over a block of time you're not going to win as many games as you would. You just can't replace them. But on any given night, you can win in this league."
