Verhaeghe, Panthers rally past Capitals in Game 5, take series lead

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Carter Verhaeghe had two goals and three assists for the Florida Panthers, who rallied from three goals down to defeat the Washington Capitals 5-3 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday.

It was the first five-point game in the NHL for Verhaeghe, who also scored two goals, including the overtime winner, in Game 4 on Monday.
The Panthers lead the best-of-7 series 3-2. Game 6 is at Washington on Friday.
"Things are going pretty well right now for me and the team," Verhaeghe said. "We're up 3-2. We have two chances to win one game, so things are looking pretty good."

Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov had two assists for the Panthers, who are the No. 1 seed from the Atlantic Division and won the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL team with the best regular-season record. Sergei Bobrovsky made 30 saves.
T.J. Oshie scored two goals, and Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists for the Capitals, who are the second wild card from the East. Ilya Samsonov made 33 saves.
"We've have to shake this one off," Oshie said. "I think we're still showing ourselves how we have to play and creating chances, creating offense, keeping their offense in check. We keep getting away from it. We have to reset here. Obviously, you don't want to be down 3-2, especially when we felt like we had a chance to go up 3-1 in the last game. We've got a veteran group in there, a bunch of guys with a lot of great character. We'll be a little [upset] here tonight, wake up tomorrow, head home and get back to work."

After Oshie extended Washington's lead to 3-0 at 3:38 of the second off a 2-on-1 with Kuznetsov, Verhaeghe made it 3-1 at 6:50 when Barkov's shot caromed to him near the right post off the end boards.
"It's a point shot that missed the net and comes out on the other side for an empty-netter," Panthers forward Patric Hornqvist said. "That's hockey. Washington had the game before that. After that goal, I think we took over and in the third, we just kept rolling the lines and doing the right things. So just playing the right way. That's going to be our mindset from now on and when we do that, I like our chances."
RELATED: [Complete Panthers vs. Capitals series coverage]
Hornqvist cut it to 3-2 at 12:27 with a shot glove side on a breakaway after John Carlson fanned on a one-timer in Florida's zone.
Sam Reinhart tied it 3-3 at 14:44 when he knocked in the rebound of Verhaeghe's shot at the left post.
Verhaeghe then put the Panthers in front 4-3 at 3:04 of the third period, getting behind Nicklas Backstrom and redirecting in a pass from Barkov.
Giroux pushed the lead to 5-3 at 15:55 when he received a pass from Verhaeghe on a 2-on-1, deked Samsonov and tucked a shot past the goalie's left pad.
"It took us a while," Florida coach Andrew Brunette said. "Give them credit. They came out and played hard and we weren't too invested early for some reason, which is concerning. It took us a while to be get dragged into the fight.
"But with our group, we've been there. I really felt we were skating there, and I thought we started taking over the game like we've done so many times this year and showed our resiliency and belief that we're in any hockey game."

Oshie gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 7:09 of the first period when he redirected Carlson's shot from the point on the power play.
Justin Schultz made it 2-0 at 2:13 of the second period, getting to a rebound at the top of the crease.
"There were two games that were played," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "There was the game to push it to 3-0 where I liked everything we did, including the power play and the penalty kill and the 5-on-5 play, and then there was the game that took place after that, where if you play against a team like Florida that is a high-octane team, we are just feeding them and we can't. We've got to get back to that first part of that game, and you've got to play it consistently for 60 minutes."
NOTES:Verhaeghe's five points are the most in a playoff game in Panthers history. … Panthers forward Mason Marchment missed the game with an undisclosed injury. … Florida has won six games this season in which it trailed by at least three goals, an NHL record. … The Panthers have not won a playoff series since 1996, when they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final. … Oshie has scored a power-play goal in three straight playoff games, tying the longest streak in Capitals history.