Ovechkin and Caps Overcome Cats, 4-3

Any and every Caps game at home or on the road these days offers the opportunity to witness history in the making, as Alex Ovechkin reminded us all once again in Washington's traditional Black Friday home game. The Caps captain racked up the 28th hat trick of his NHL career on Friday, helping to push the Caps past the Florida Panthers, 4-3.

"He's been excellent," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette of Ovechkin. "That whole line has been excellent. [Evgeny Kuznetsov] certainly factors into that, but at the end of the day, [Ovechkin] is delivering a lot of offense with the way he is playing the game. Tonight was a perfect example; it was a big game and we needed big guys to step up. And he was really, really good."
The big guys stepped up indeed. In addition to Ovechkin's three goals, Kuznetsov supplied a trio of helpers and Tom Wilson had a goal and two assists. And another "big" guy, 6-foot-6 inch forward Aliaksei Protas delivered the first multi-point game of his NHL career with a pair of assists.

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."

Three seconds later, Florida's Joe Thornton was boxed for tripping and the two sides played four skaters a side until Ovechkin was unboxed, giving the Caps an abbreviated power play on which they took the lead.
From behind the Florida net, Aliaksei Protas fed Wilson in the slot. He fired, and Sergei Bobrovsky made the stop. But Ovechkin was right there to pounce on and bury the rebound for a 2-1 Washington lead at 2:50.
At this point, Bobrovsky left the game and Spencer Knight came on in relief. On the next even strength shift, Ovechkin took a feed from Protas, entered the zone and fired a shot through Knight from the top of the right circle, putting the Caps up by a pair at 3-1. Ovechkin's second goal of the game - and second in 56 seconds - came at 3:46.
Twenty-seven seconds after Ovechkin's second goal, Florida ice the puck and reinstalled Bobrovsky in the crease. Just over three minutes after Ovechkin's second goal, Florida's Sam Reinhart scored off the rush, ripping a shot past Ilya Samsonov from the right circle as the Panthers came 200 feet to pull within a goal at 6:49 of the second.
Once again, Bobrovsky was pulled at this point and Knight came back in. Knight's second stint in the Florida cage lasted longer, but Bobrovsky returned again with 2:48 remaining in the second period, and he remained in net the rest of the way without incident. According to Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette, the second period shuffling of goaltenders was due to some confusion as to whether Bobrovsky had been cleared to return or not.
The Caps nursed that 3-2 lead to the second intermission and set about adding to it in the third. Ovechkin completed his hat trick early in the final frame, doing so 17 seconds after Kuznetsov won an offensive-zone draw. Wilson retrieved a loose puck low along the left half-wall, rolling it behind the Florida net for Kuznetsov, who settled it and must have been stunned to see Ovechkin standing completely unattended in front. Kuznetsov put it right on a tee and Ovechkin one-timed it home from in tight, giving the Caps a 4-2 cushion at 4:02.

Florida answered back quickly once again, and once again the Panthers came 200 feet and scored off the rush. This time, it was Carter Verhaeghe taking a feed in his own end and finding smooth sailing through the middle of the ice in the neutral zone. From the tops of the circles, he fired a shot past Samsonov to make it a 4-3 game.
Samsonov and the Caps kept it right there the rest of the way, shutting down the Panthers' bid for the equalizer and handing them a sixth straight road setback (0-3-3).
"I don't think that we were at the level we're normally at," says Brunette. "But hey, we've got to give them a lot of credit. They play in your face. They didn't give us any space out there."
Ovechkin climbed the all-time power play goals ladder tonight, pulling to within one of all-time career leader Dave Andreychuk (273). He netted his 117th career game-winning goal to pull within one of Phil Esposito (118) for third place on the all-time list. And he pulled three goals closer to Jaromir Jagr (766) for third place on the League's all-time goals list with 748.
In addition to all that, the Caps won their fourth straight on home ice, and they've scored at least four goals in front of the home folks in all four. Washington is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games.
"We had Thanksgiving [Thursday] and an earlier game today," says Wilson. "But guys just keep showing up. It's a long year, and you've just got to keep grinding and keep playing as a team.
"When we show up and we play fast and we battle for each other, we're giving ourselves a chance to win. We've played some pretty good teams, and we're right there. We just want to keep keep pushing forward. It's been great to see and I've been saying it for the last month or so. And if we keep playing that way, I'm happy to keep talking about it."