RECAP: Bobrovsky, penalty kill shine bright as Panthers beat Capitals

SUNRISE, Fla. --Sergei Bobrovsky made 41 saves and Carter Verhaeghe scored a pair of goals as the Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 5-2 at FLA Live Arena on Tuesday.
Strong in the face of adversity, Florida went 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
"I think our penalty kill deserves all the credit for tonight's win along with our goalie," Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. "The goalie is the key piece, right? Your best penalty killer."

With the Panthers coming out hot on home ice, Aleksander Barkov opened the scoring when he ripped a shot from the high slot past Darcy Kuemper to make it 1-0 just 5:45 into the first period.

"It's such a good sign when he shoots the puck early," Maurice said. "He had [Matthew] Tkachuk off the post, but when his mentality is to shoot first, he's just such a dynamic player. He's going to make those plays. He's going to hit the open guy, but that shot that he has, to get it off his stick, he's just so big and strong."
Not long before the captain broke the ice, Bobrovsky kept the Capitals off the board when he laid out to rob Anthony Mantha from inside the blue paint with a clutch paddle save.
Through the first 20 minutes, Florida led 18-8 in scoring chances.
"Our first period's been good for us all year," Panthers forward Nick Cousins said. "We come ready to play. We come out and establish our forecheck and all four lines just kind of roll over the boards. We make it hard on the other team. I think our starts have been really good."
Showing off his hand-eye coordination, Sam Reinhart doubled the lead to 2-0 in the second period when he backhanded a rebound out of mid-air into the twine on the power play at 3:46.
With an assist on the goal, Tkachuk recorded his 400th career point in the NHL.
"And he's still getting better," Maurice said when asked about Tkachuk, who dished out three assists against Washington. "There's still lots to his game. His hands are probably the thing I've maybe underappreciated coming in, even having seen him play as much as I've seen him play. He's just got an incredible set of hands."
Playing 4-on-4 hockey, the Capitals cut their deficit in half when Dylan Strome fired a rising shot that sailed just over Bobrovsky right shoulder and into the top of the net to make it 2-1 at 15:04.
Over the course of the second period, the Panthers successfully killed off four power plays.
"Penalty killing was the defining piece to our game," Maurice said. "Our power play goes 1-for-1, and we needed it, but we ran eight minutes of PK through the second period. We kind of took ourselves out of the rhythm with that. That's fine, but you've kind of got most of your blue line gassed going into the third. The part of the game I enjoyed the most was the last six minutes because we got a huge kill and then we're right in those last five minutes. We settled our game down and we were good."
After spending the start of the third period in their own end, momentum shifted back in Florida's favor when Cousins tucked a shot around Kuemper to extend the lead to 3-1 at 7:02.

Bringing the Capitals back to within one goal, John Carlson scored on a delayed penalty to make it 3-2 at 11:15. From that point on, Bobrovsky would shut the door as he stopped 21 of 22 shots that came his way in the third period, including a pair of key saves on the penalty kill.
Helping the Panthers pull away, Carter Verhaeghe tapped in his team-leading ninth goal of the season from in close to make it 4-2 at the 17-minute mark. Not done there, he then pushed his goal total to 10 when he took a pass from Tkachuk and cashed in on an empty net to make it 5-2 at 18:36.
Improving to 9-6-1, Florida has won three of its last four games.
"Like every game, we came out and had a strong start," Verhaeghe said. "It was a gritty one. The special teams were huge with the PK. It was a solid win throughout."

KEY QUOTES

"The coach keeps telling me I'm a shooter, so I'm just trying to shoot the puck. I'm with a couple great players that are finding me in crazy spots. A lot of the time I just have to put it in the net. Our line's been good and, yeah, it's going in." - Carter Verhaeghe on his uptick in scoring.
"It was a big goal at the time. In the second period we got in penalty trouble, and that takes a lot of guys out of rhythm. Our penalty kill did a fantastic job tonight. Those guys deserve a lot of credit for the win." - Nick Cousins on his third-period goal and the penalty kill.
"I think it's the little details. The little things after the shots or staying strong and not letting them come into the zone. You can say this and that. It's just the collective effort. All four guys and the goalie compete and try to do their best." - Sergei Bobrovsky on the penalty kill.

CATS NOTES

• Paul Maurice became the fourth coach in NHL history to reach 1,700 games.
  - Aleksander Barkov finished the game with three points (one goal, two assists).
  - The Panthers have scored first in 11 of 16 games this season.
  - Marc Staal and Aaron Ekblad both skated over six minutes on the penalty kill.
  - Sam Bennett recorded a team-high five hits.
  - Matthew Tkachuk led the Panthers with a +4 rating.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Panthers (9-6-1) will continue their homestand with a matchup against the Dallas Stars (9-5-2) at FLA Live Arena on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET.
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