Panthers defeat Capitals for first win after squandering three-goal lead

WASHINGTON -- The Florida Panthers took a three-goal lead in the first period but needed a shootout to defeat the Washington Capitals 6-5 for their first win of the season at Capital One Arena on Friday.

Nicklas Backstrom scored during a 6-on-4 Washington power play with 1:25 to go in the third period to tie it 5-5. The Capitals trailed 4-1 in the first period.
Panthers goalie Michael Hutchinson kept Alex Ovechkin from scoring to extend the shootout, then stopped Nicklas Backstrom before Jonathan Huberdeau scored on Pheonix Copley for Florida's first win in its fifth game (1-2-2).
WATCH: [All Panthers vs. Capitals highlights]
"It's a relief," Huberdeau said. "We've been so close every game to get a win and now we finally got the first one. Now we've got to look forward and get another win tomorrow night."
Brett Connolly and Jakub Vrana each had a goal and an assist, and Lars Eller had three assists for the Capitals (3-2-2). Braden Holtby gave up four goals on 11 shots playing the first period.
"Even though it might not have looked that bad, we were still not quite there maybe emotionally," Eller said."[Holtby] makes the first save on every goal except the power-play goal. We've got to help him out better there and be on those second chances. ... Correct the bad stuff and just move on."

Vincent Trocheck had a goal and two assists; Huberdeau had two assists; and Hutchinson, who took over for starter James Reimer in the second period, saved 10 of the 11 shots he faced in relief for Florida.
Huberdeau backhanded a shot past Copley with 51 seconds left in the second period during a 5-on-3 power play to put the Panthers ahead 5-4.
Trocheck gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 10:49 of the first period when his rebound chance went wide but deflected off Eller's skate. Washington tied it 1-1 at 15:26 when Eller passed to John Carlson for a tap in.
The Panthers scored twice in 38 seconds for a 3-1 lead. Evgenii Dadonov's power-play goal at 15:58 on a pass from Aleksander Barkov made it 2-1. Colton Sceviour followed his shot, blocked by Connolly in front of the net, and poked the puck past Holtby for a 3-1 lead at 16:36.

Jared McCann made it 4-1 at 18:52 when he backhanded a rebound past Holtby.
Connolly began a run of three straight goals for Washington. Vrana passed from near the blue line to the right of Reimer, and Connolly scored at 1:48 of the second period to make it 4-2.
Vrana's goal at 8:38 was a one-timer on a 2-on-1 pass from Eller to make it 4-3.
The Capitals tied it 4-4 at 13:15 when Reimer allowed a rebound in front to Devante Smith-Pelly. Reimer was then pulled for Hutchinson.

"It happened to us again in the second period," Barkov said. "We started making mistakes and we didn't play the right way and we were losing pucks. But we battled back and the goalies kept us in the game and we score a couple goals and finally we won in a shootout. That shows how good of a team we are."

They said it

"We talked about the [6-5 shootout loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday]. It's almost a replica of the second period in Philly, and how are we going to handle the third now? What are we going to do to show some maturity in our game and take the next step as a hockey club? There was some good things in the third period. That snowball effect again. We got rolling and shot ourselves in the foot a little bit. But we found a way to win tonight." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner

"To expect that it starts in that same spot, it's not really I think all that achievable. The emotional commitment and obviously the heightened intensity of the games by both teams, it's a tough one to match. [Stanley Cup Final] Game 7, as much as you try to channel that energy and push it in the right direction, it isn't. It's not playoff hockey. But like I said, you have to be ready to go every night. Otherwise this league's too good." -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden

Need to know

Panthers defenseman Mark Pysyk left the game at 2:35 of the second period with an undisclosed injury. He will be re-evaluated before Florida's home game Saturday against the Detroit Red Wings. ... Connolly ended a 13-game regular-season goal drought, and Smith-Pelly ended a 35-game streak without a regular-season goal. The two combined for 13 goals during the Stanley Cup playoffs (Connolly six; Smith-Pelly seven).

What's next

Panthers: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; FS-F, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Capitals: Visit the Vancouver Canucks on Monday (10 p.m. ET; SNP, NBCSWA+, NHL.TV)