Panthers Wrap-Up: Panthers 4, Capitals 2
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 Stephen Weiss and Shawn Matthias also scored for Florida, and Scott Clemmensen stopped 26 shots. Tomas Fleischmann had a pair of assists for the Panthers, who moved into first place in the Southeast Division - one point ahead of Washington. FULL RECAP |
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 - Panthers forward Stephen Weiss who's game-winner went to review after first being waved off |
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 2. The Accuracy Of Sami: Acquired from Vancouver in October along with Marco Sturm for David Booth and Steve Reinprecht, Mikael Samuelsson got off to a slow start (injury). After missing time with another injury, Samuelsson has shown the great vision and skill that he has had over his NHL career. Looked to bring in veteran leadership, Samuelsson showed his smarts early in the second and third periods as the crafty veteran scored the first two Panthers goals. In the second period, his tally came just 33 seconds into the frame. There he took the puck from Tyson Strachan and rushed up the ice. Getting just past center ice, Samuelsson fired a shot on net. The move surprised Neuvirth and the forward scored far side for his fourth of the year from 88-feet out. Tied at one in the third period thanks to a Brooks Laich backhand 11:15 into the second, Samuelsson struck again and this time it came on the power play. With Dineen using Samuelsson on the point in a four-forward system, Samuelsson sent a snap shot on goal. The puck fired from 51 feet out beat Neuvirth for a 2-1 lead 4:57 into the third. Just put the puck on net and use some accuracy and good things happen. 3. On Second Review, It's A Win: About midway through the third (10:08 left on the clock to be exact), Stephen Weiss thought he had scored a goal and the Panthers had thought he scored a goal to give them a 3-1 lead. The Panthers forward crashed the net as Tomas Kopecky put the puck on Neuvirth. The rebound hit the Caps goalie and then he tried to swat the puck away from danger. Instead it caromed in off of the crashing Weiss. The referee however adamantly signaled no goal as he waived it off. After a lenghty review in Toronto, the war room overturned the referee's original call in calling it a good goal. The result gave the Panthers an all important two-goal lead. They would need that as the Caps would get to within one with 2:21 left to play when defenseman John Carlson stole the puck and fired a shot from just inside the blueline that beat Clemmensen. Up by just a goal now, Shawn Matthias would salt away the victory with an empty net goal with 53 seconds remaining for a 4-2 final. The win vaulted the Panthers back in front of the Capitals for first place in the Southeast, one point up on their division rivals (57 to 56). Florida also has a game in hand. |
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 Memorable twitter posts from the game.
@JessilynMorales: Not going to lie, I walked out with the biggest smile on my face thanks to my #FlaPanthers :) #FirstPlaceCats |
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 Memorable fan posts from the game.
James Martin: Was at the game tonight. Great effort by the guys! Proud to be a panther fan! Jeff Main: Good job Clemmensen, good job Sammy, great job Florida Panthers! Gabriel Nagy: Grrreat effort by our Panthers and a big win over the Caps!!! What a feeling:Panthers are back on top...Thank You guys! LET´S GO PANTHERS!!! Joe Fiore: Clemmensen rocked tonight. Dan Glassford: What a good game. Good passing! Shooting! Defense! Great game |
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 1. It was a couple of firsts for the Panthers against the Capitals. Picking up the assist on Mikael Samuelsson's second period goal (see below), both Tyson Strachan and Sean Bergenheim notched their first assists of their Panthers careers. For Strachan, the feat was accomplished in his second game as a Cat while in Bergenheim picked up the assist in his 29th game. |
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2 Goals, 4 Shots, 2 Hits, 16:36 TOI
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Panthers
Capitals
Author: Glenn Odebralski | FloridaPanthers.com
