Brian Pothier scored a power-play goal and
collected two assists, as the Washington Capitals defeated the Florida
Panthers, 4-1, in the front end of a home-and-home series at BankAtlantic
Center.
Brendan Morrison tallied twice and Tyler Sloan also found the back of the net
for the Capitals, who snapped a three-game losing streak. Jose Theodore made
28 saves in the win.
Washington played its second straight game without the services of superstar
Alex Ovechkin, who suffered an upper-body strain in Sunday's overtime loss to
Columbus. He will also miss Saturday's game at Verizon Center against the
Panthers. His status will be updated early next week.
Nathan Horton scored the lone goal for Florida, which had won three straight.
Tomas Vokoun, who had posted back-to-back shutouts in his previous two starts,
stopped 21-of-24 shots in defeat.
For the second straight game, Sloan opened the scoring for Washington,
positioning himself in the slot and one-timing a feed from Chris Clark behind
Vokoun 4:53 into the first period.
The tally snapped Vokoun's scoreless streak at 147 minutes and two seconds,
and came moments after the puck rested precariously in the crease before it
was swiped away by a Florida defenseman.
Morrison made it 2-0 at 10:46 of the middle frame when he fired a shot from
the left circle over the glove hand of Vokoun.
Pothier's bullet from the left point gave Washington a three-goal advantage at
6:56 of the third, but Horton countered on the power play at 10:28, banging
home the rebound of a Dmitry Kulikov shot.
A little over a minute later, Capitals defenseman Shaone Morrisonn stapled
Florida's Kenndal McArdle into the boards. Morrisonn was assessed a five-
minute major and a 10-minute misconduct for the hit. The Panthers, though,
failed to convert on the lengthy power play.
Morrison's empty-net goal in the final minute sealed the win.
Game Notes
Florida defenseman Bryan McCabe appeared in his 1,000th career NHL
game...Washington rearguard Mike Green left the game with an undisclosed
injury...The Capitals have scored first in 13 of 16 games this season.
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