The Capitals bucked a truly daunting trend in beating the Florida Panthers after previously trailing 2-1 entering the third period of Game 1 Tuesday night.
Per the Associated Press, Florida opponents were 0-22-0 this season when trailing the Panthers after two periods at FLA Live Arena. Even nuttier, opponents were 0-39-1 when trailing the Panthers after two periods in any game this season.
If any team were to do it, it actually makes sense that it was the Capitals, who, despite having only the league's 13th best overall record (44-26-12), owned the best road record (25-10-6) in the NHL this season.
According to MoneyPuck.com, the Panthers had greater than a 76.71 percent chance of winning the game at the end of the second period.
Trailing 2-1, the Capitals turned it on in the third, with Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie and Lars Eller all scoring goals in the final frame, securing the 4-2 victory. All but one of Washington's goals were against Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped 34 of 37 shots (.919) in Game 1. Eller scored an empty netter in the final minute of the game.
Tuesday's win should serve as a huge confidence boost for Caps goaltender Vitek Vanecek, who stopped 30 of 32 shots (.938) from a Panthers club that led the NHL in goal scoring by leaps and bounds during the 2021-22 regular season. The Panthers netted 340 goals on the year, a full 25 goals better than the next highest-scoring team (Toronto, 315).
Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at FLA Live Arena. You can listen to John Walton on the home call right here on 106.7 The Fan.
