Washington Capitals 2, Florida Panthers 2 FINAL OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) -- Stephen Weiss and Roberto Luongo were not content with a point in the standings for a tie.

Weiss helped earn the point, scoring a power-play goal midway through the third period to give the Florida Panthers a 2-2 tie with Washington on Wednesday night.

"It was a game that we let slip away again," Weiss said. "It's kind of disappointing. We needed to win that one. We're there, but we're not quite there. We have to win these games. That's the bottom line."

Valeri Bure also scored, and Luongo made 25 saves for Florida, which has won only one of its last 10 games.

"We're not going to make the playoffs with ties. We have to win games," Luongo said. "We have to play with the desperation level a little bit higher than we have been."

Bates Battaglia and Peter Bondra scored for Washington, and Maxime Ouellet, who shut out Atlanta on Tuesday night in his first start of the season, made 20 saves.

"The chances are there," said Bondra, who gave Washington a 2-1 lead at 4:03 of the third period. "Early in the game, I hit the post. I would have liked to get that one back."

Washington played without right wing Jaromir Jagr, sidelined by a thumb injury. The Capitals are 2-1-1 under new coach Glen Hanlon, who replaced the fired Bruce Cassidy on Dec. 10.

"The boys are really excited," Battaglia said. "The attitude has totally turned around. Everybody is positive."

Weiss scored on Florida's first shot on goal in the third period, tipping in Mike Van Ryn's slap shot from the point.

"He's a gifted guy like that," Florida coach Rick Dudley said. "He knows how to find seams and get in between people. He's just a cerebral player. He reads situations very, very well."

Bondra made it 2-1 early in the third on the Capitals' only shot of the period, tipping Matt Pettinger's pass into the open net on a two-on-one.

A mistake by Ouellet gave Florida a 1-0 lead at 6:20 of the first period. Bure chased down Olli Jokinen's pass near the boards in the corner and fired the puck toward the net from a sharp angle. Ouellet failed to protect the post on the short side and allowed the puck to get by him.

Battaglia tied it with 51.6 seconds left in the second period, tipping Brian Willsie's pass through Luongo's legs.