Sergei Bobrovsky made 19 saves. He left the game twice in the second period, once briefly and then for an extended time, after a collision with Wilson. Spencer Knight allowed one goal on seven shots.
"Originally, it was the concussion protocol from, apparently, the spotter," Brunette said. "He went in [the first time] and was evaluated by their physician and was cleared to go back and play. I'm not sure what happened after that. We were told he wasn't evaluated, or he wasn't passed [through] the protocol. Kind of got really gray there for a while."
Huberdeau collected a turnover at the Capitals blue line and scored on a two-on-none rush to give the Panthers a 1-0 lead at 19:28.
The Capitals tied it 1-1 with a shorthanded goal at 1:34 of the second period when Wilson took a pass from John Carlson on a 2-on-1 and then collided with Bobrovsky. Kuznetsov picked up his first assist, controlling the puck in the neutral zone before passing to Carlson to start the rush.
"You want guys on the ice that are playing the game hard, that are smart, that know how to read things," Laviolette said of Kuznetsov. "You get the opportunity and you've got to make the most of it. He's done that on the penalty kill for sure."
Ovechkin knocked in a rebound on a power play to make it 2-1 at 2:50. The forward has scored 273 power-play goals, one shy of the NHL record held by Dave Andreychuk.
The Capitals were 1-for-3 on the power play. The Panthers were 0-for-3 and are 1-for-22 in their past nine games.
"We all know what to do on the power play. We've all played there. It's not clicking right now," Huberdeau said. "Too many turnovers. [Opposing teams are] having chances on their [penalty kill] and I think we're just a little sloppy right now."
Ovechkin made it 3-1 from the right circle on the rush at 3:46.
Reinhart pulled the Panthers within 3-2 at 6:49 when he received a cross-ice pass from MacKenzie Weegar and scored from the right circle.
Ovechkin increased the lead to 4-2 at 4:02 of the third period when he scored from the slot off a pass from Kuznetsov.
Verhaeghe scored at 5:36 to make it 4-3.
NOTES: Ovechkin went to the locker room after Radko Gudas's shot deflected off his stick and hit his face at 4:40 of the first period. He returned at 7:40. … Ovechkin's hat trick tied Marcel Dionne and Bobby Hull for sixth in NHL history. It was Ovechkin's 153rd multigoal game, moving within one of Mario Lemieux (154) for third in NHL history. … Ovechkin has scored 1,356 points (748 goals, 608 assists) and passed Guy Lafleur (1,353) and Brendan Shanahan (1,354) for 26th in NHL history. … Ovechkin scored his 117th game-winning goal is one from tying Phil Esposito (118) for the third in NHL history. … Panthers forward Anthony Duclair skated during warmups but was scratched because of a lower-body injury. Brunette said he is day to day. … Huberdeau has scored seven points (four goals, three assists) in a six-game point streak.
