Despite a rash of injuries, the Capitals were able to notch
a victory over the Panthers last night. Washington hopes for a sweep of the
home-and-home set this evening when it hosts Florida at Verizon Center.
Playing for a second straight game without Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals also
lost Mike Green (undisclosed) and Jeff Schultz (lower body) to injury last
night. However, thanks to 28 saves from Jose Theodore as well as a goal and
two assists out of Brian Pothier, Washington notched a 4-1 victory to halt a
three-game losing streak.
Brendan Morrison tallied twice and Tyler Sloan snapped Panthers netminder
Tomas Vokoun's scoreless streak at 147 minutes and two seconds with a first-
period goal.
"I was just coming up to join the play. Chris Clark had it on the left
side...[He] made a great pass, and I just shot and hoped it went in," Sloan
said.
Ovechkin is unlikely to play tonight due to an upper-body injury after missing
just the sixth game of his career on Friday, fourth due to injury. His status
will be updated next week.
Washington begins a three-game homestand tonight and is 4-1-3 as the host this
season.
Vokoun, coming off shutouts over St. Louis and Carolina, ended with 21 saves
while Nathan Horton had the lone goal.
"We had opportunities. We could have had four or five goals tonight," Panthers
forward Cory Stillman said.
Florida had a three-game win streak come to an end on the same night it
honored defenseman Bryan McCabe for playing in his 1,000th career game.
The Panthers play their next two games on the road, where they have won three
straight to get to 3-3-1.
The Capitals have now won four of their last six versus the Panthers, but have
lost two of their last three at home to Florida.
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