Ovechkin put a scare into the lively crowd early in the first when he blocked a Radko Gudas shot at the Washington line, only to have the puck come up and catch him just below his nose. He went off for repairs, missed a couple of shifts, then came back to thrill the throng.
"It kind of was a wake-up call," shrugs Ovechkin. "Thank God I didn't lose any teeth. It was nothing major."
A mere flesh wound. A couple of stitches and Ovechkin was back on the ice.
Continuing a recent trend, the Caps put together a strong start to Friday's game. They were buzzing around the Florida end early in the first and putting some forechecking heat on the visitors. The early part of the period was filled with face-offs and bereft of flow, but it opened up some in the back half, a portend of things to come.
In the final minute of what was otherwise a spotless first period, the Caps lost the handle on the puck just inside their own line, giving the Panthers a short-ice 2-on-0 rush with Jonathan Huberdeau carrying. He deked and scored to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead with 32 seconds left in the opening period.
The middle frame was a high event stanza. First, Ovechkin went off for slashing just 10 seconds into the period, giving the Panthers a chance to expand their lead. Instead, the Caps pulled even with a shorthanded strike.
Kuznetsov got control of the puck in neutral ice, and he pulled it back into Washington ice, lulling the Panthers into a false sense of security. As the Cats started to execute a personnel change, Kuznetsov zipped a pass up ice for John Carlson, sending him into Florida ice with Tom Wilson riding shotgun. Carlson fed Wilson perfectly, and the winger netted career goal No. 99 at 1:34 of the second.
"I was just trying to hold onto that puck," recounts Kuznetsov. "I don't want to talk too much about that, because I want to keep that inside my head. But I feel like when we have a chance, we have to go take a 2-on-1 or something like that. I believe that on the penalty kill, you can still get momentum. You just have to make sure that you get back before them."