Sam Reinhart’s overtime goal leads Panthers past Capitals. Takeaways from the win
Sam Reinhart scored 15 seconds into overtime to lead the Florida Panthers to a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday at Capital One Arena.
The Panthers improve to 7-4-1 on the season and won a game for the first time this season when trailing entering the third period. Washington falls to 5-4-2.
Reinhart’s goal, his team-leading ninth of the season and third game-winner, came off an Aleksander Barkov pass that bounced off the wall before Reinhart rushed toward the net and fired a snap shot past Washington goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
It was the fastest overtime goal in Panthers history, surpassing Aaron Ekblad’s goal 16 seconds into overtime on Feb. 16, 2022, against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Evan Rodrigues tied the game 3:33 into the third period by tapping in a backdoor shot off a clutch pass from defenseman Gustav Forsling to get the game to the sudden-death three-on-three overtime.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Barkov scored Florida’s other regulation goals to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead after the first period before Washington responded in the second period.
The Capitals tied the game 6:13 into the middle frame on a Connor McMichael shorthanded goal. Washington then took the lead on an Anthony Mantha shot from up close with 4:09 left in the second period after the Capitals capitalized on a Mike Reilly turnover. Washington nearly had another goal in the period from Sonny Milano that was overturned after the Panthers’ challenged for offside.
Mantha opened scoring 10:42 into the first period when he fired a long shot toward the net that bounced past Florida goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Here are three takeaways from the game.
Another close game
Wednesday marked the fifth Panthers game this season decided by one goal. Florida has picked up points in all five of them, going 4-0-1 in one-goal outings and winning two of three games that have gone into overtime.
The other four: A 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 16, a 3-2 win over the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 28, a 3-2 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on Oct. 30 and a 5-4 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.
Overall, 11 of the Panthers’ 12 games played this season have been decided by either one or two goals.
The lone exception so far has been their 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Aleksander Barkov likes scoring against the Capitals
With his first-period goal and primary assist on Reinhart’s game-winner on Wednesday, Barkov has now recorded at least one point in each of his past 11 games against the Capitals.
Barkov has 19 total points against the Capitals in that span (six goals, 13 assists).
The 11-game point streak is the longest active point streak by any player against Washington and is also the longest-ever run by a Panthers player against a single opponent, according to NHL PR.
For his career, Barkov has 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 22 games against Washington. The Capitals are one of five teams Barkov is averaging more than a point per game against. The others are the Blackhawks (27 points in 25 games), Detroit Red Wings (42 points in 39 games), Los Angeles Kings (16 points in 14 games) and Montreal Canadiens (41 points in 31 games).
Next up, a weekend at home
The Panthers return to Amerant Bank Arena for two games — Friday at 7 p.m. against the Carolina Hurricanes and Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Blackhawks — before heading out west for a week that includes three games in California against the San Jose Sharks (Tuesday), Los Angeles Kings (Nov. 16) and Anaheim Ducks (Nov. 17).
This story was originally published November 8, 2023 at 10:13 PM.
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