With 34 home wins in the regular season, the highest total in the Bettman circuit in 2021-2022, the Florida Panthers did not want to raise the white flag a second time in a row at the FLA Live Arena to start the playoffs. Thursday, they avenged their loss in the first game by defeating the Washington Capitals 5-1 in the second.
Renowned for their offensive punch, the crowd favorites got the ball rolling with two goals in the space of 98 seconds late in the first period.
Defender Aaron Ekblad was lucky at first, seeing his shot hit an opposing player before going over goalkeeper Vitek Vanecek. Barkov then doubled his lead. The Finn took advantage of a magnificent play from Jonathan Huberdeau, who served not one cup of coffee to one opponent, but two, before handing the puck to his sidekick on a silver platter.
The Panthers added to their lead in the second period, through Mason Marchment, Carter Verhaeghe and Anton Lundell. The Panthers chased Vanecek out of the game after two periods. The latter yielded five times on 19 throws. The visitors’ masked man has been left to his own devices more than once, however, and particularly on the Lundell net. The latter took advantage of a turnover from Verhaeghe in the offensive zone to bring himself alone in front of the opposing goalkeeper, along with Sam Reinhart. The two men thus stripped the Cerberus with the help of an unstoppable passing game.
Replacing Vanecek, Ilya Samsonov made 17 saves.
From 200 feet away, Sergei Bobrovsky didn’t have to be flashy, but he still stood before 26 of 27 shots aimed his way.
Faced with this lost cause, the “Caps” tried to take advantage of the third period to set the table for the next duel. This will also take place in Washington, while the series is tied 1-1 after the clashes in Florida.