SUNRISE, Fla. — Alex Ovechkin scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period to lift the Washington Capitals over the Florida Panthers 4-2 on Thursday night.
Marcus Johansson, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Justin Williams scored goals for the Capitals. Matt Niskanen recorded two assists and Braden Holtby made 26 saves.
Jaromir Jagr became the third player to score 750 goals. He is in third place all-time in the NHL, behind only Wayne Gretzky (894) and Gordie Howe (801). Michael Matheson also scored for the Panthers.
Roberto Luongo made 25 stops.
Ovechkin put the Capitals ahead 3-2 with 12:27 left in the third. His one-timer from the point got past Luongo, who was screened on the play.
Johannson stretched the lead to 4-2 with an unassisted goal with 1:20 left.
Jagr’s power-play goal tied the game at 2 with 5:50 left in the second. Jagr took a pass in the slot from Aleksander Barkov from behind the goal line and beat Holtby. The power-play goal was the first in 11 opportunities for the Panthers this season.
The Panthers had an apparent power-play goal at 7:47 of the second waved off. Colton Sceviour swept in a loose puck sitting to the left of the crease but an early whistle killed the play.
Trailing 2-0, the Panthers closed to 2-1 on Matheson’s shot from the sideboards that snuck past Holtby on the stick side with 6:13 left in the first. The goal was Matheson’s second in two games.
The Capitals scored two goals less than two minutes apart in the first period. Williams took a pass from Nate Schmidt in front and poked in the puck on his second try to make it 1-0 at 8:25.
Washington stretched its lead to 2-0 when Kuznetsov deflected a shot from the point under Luongo’s glove at 10:21.
Notes: Jagr’s goal was his first in 10 games, including one last season, six playoff games last season, and three this season. . Barkov has two goals and three assists in four games. . Keith Yandle, signed as a free agent in June, recorded his first point as a Panther with an assist on Matheson’s goal. . Washington’s Daniel Winnik was hit in the face with a puck after falling on the ice midway through the third period.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.