The Capitals forfeit a three goal lead and Game Five in Florida.
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In the Capitals’ 300th career Stanley Cup Playoff game they gave it away, gifting Florida a 5 to 3 Game 5 victory.
Here’s Wednesday night’s Plus/Minus:
Plus: T.J. Oshie’s two goal game.
Minus: Giving up a three goal lead in 7:51. Unbelievable stuff.
Game notes:
- Six minutes into the contest Carter Verhaeghe tripped Alex Ovechkin in the offensive zone, bringing Washington’s man advantage unit out. And after hitting the crossbar early the Capitals converted, with Oshie tipping a John Carlson shot behind Sergei Bobrovsky.
- The power play goal is Washington’s sixth of the series (and Oshie’s third).
- Florida then had their own man advantage opportunity but stellar penalty killing from the Capitals kept the Panthers shotless. Washington would turn aside a pair of first frame Panther power plays.
- Early in the second period Washington benefitted from slower referee reactions. With Bobrovsky looking for the puck atop his crease Justin Schultz found it first and stuffed it into the net.
- 86 seconds after Schultz’s tally Oshie struck again, extending the Capitals’ lead to three. Skating down the wing with speed Oshie roofed a shot shortside to turn the light red again.
- Verhaeghe was the first to respond for Florida. Taking a wild rebound off the end wall Verhaeghe beat Schultz to the far post and deposited the puck in the net.
- Patric Hornqvist was next for Florida. An egregious error from Carlson allowed Hornqvist a breakaway chance that he cached in on with a quick shot over Samsonov’s glove.
- Sam Reinhart then completed the comeback, slipping the puck beneath Samsonov and a few of his teammates in the blue paint. The teams were tied at three entering the third period.
- Florida’s fourth unanswered goal was Verhaeghe again, skating in on an odd man rush and touching home an Aleksander Barkov pass with one touch.
- Claude Giroux completed the scoring at 55:55. Another odd man rush, another successful Florida finish.