By The Numbers: Panthers 7, Capitals 4

4 – Washington jumped on the board first as they capitalized on a Keith Ballard turnover. Pressuring in the offensive zone. Alexander Semin pressured Ballard to pass it right to him. Semin passed it to Brooks Laich who beat Tomas Vokoun 10:15 into the first period. For Laich, it was his 23rd of the season and fourth in the last four games.

6 – Tracking down the rebound in the corner, forward David Booth threw the puck at the net and it worked as it deflected off a Caps defenseman and behind Jose Theodore for his 30th of the season with 4:10 left in the first. Booth became just the sixth Panther to record at least 30 goals in a season. He becomes the 39th player in the league to record 30 this season.

60 – Picking up the second assist on the play, center Stephen Weiss registered his 46th assist of the season. The assist also gave him 60 points for the 2008-09 campaign. Weiss, who is having a career year has 17 more assists and 12 more points than his previous highs. He added a second assist later in the game.

8 – The Cats were active in the defensive zone in the first, blocking eight shots as a team. Leading the team was Bryan McCabe with two. Washington had that amount as a team.

4 (part II) – Hopping out of the penalty box, Radek Dvorak took the homerun pass from defenseman Karlis Skrastins and smoked it past Theodore for his 15th of the season 8:20 into the second period. The 15 goals is Dvorak’s most since the 2003-04 season, four seasons ago.

14 + 18 – Setting up Dvorak with the goal, Skrastins tied his career high in both assists (13) and points (17). He then set new highs in those categories later in the game on Booth's second of the night.

2 – Taking the drop pass from Booth, McCabe blasted it past Theodore from just above the face-off circle for his 15th of the season 3:38 after Dvorak’s goal while the Cats were on the power play. It was McCabe’s 8th man-advantage tally of the campaign. McCabe tied the franchise record for goals in a season with the shot. Jay Bouwmeester – last season and this season – also has 15 goals.

3 – It was Semin’s night for Washington. Semin got the Caps to within one, scoring with 4:07 left in the second as he took the pass from Alex Ovechkin and slid the puck past a diving Vokoun. Semin then tied it with his second goal and third point of the night when he scored on the power play 3:27 into the third. It was Semin’s sixth three point night of the season.

5 – Florida regained the lead, thanks to Booth’s second of the night, 31st of the season 3:21 after Semin’s goal. It was a career night for the third year winger. Picking up an assist on Michael Frolik’s goal later on, Booth finished with a career high five points on two goals and three assists. It also gave him 60 points on the season.

8 (part II) – After Ovechkin scored to knot the score at four, the Cats pounced once again, scoring twice within an eight second span as Steve Eminger scored his fifth of the season, first as a Panther, with 4:28 left. Then off the faceoff, Booth sent Frolik on a break. The rookie netted his third point of the night and 45th point of the season (21-24) when he beat Theodore with 4:20 left.

1 – Waiting until the last game of the season to net his first of the season, Nick Tarnasky salted the victory away, scoring into the empty net with just nine seconds remaining. It was Tarnasky’s first goal in 58 games.

4 (part III) – It’s a lot of four stats, but what the heck. Why not. Florida finished with 14 hits on the night. Leading the way, forward Rostislav Olesz with four. The Cats combined to go plus-15. Tops of that list? Weiss, who was a plus-4.