WASHINGTON (AP) – This time on the wrong side of the return attempts, the Florida Panthers bounced back after extra time and made sure they didn’t have to go home to finish their first round series.
Carter Verhaeghe marked the OT winner to send the Panthers into the second round, beating the Washington Capitals 4-3 in Game 6 on Friday night. This is the first victory in the playoff series of the franchise since 1996, when Florida reached the final for the Stanley Cup.
The Panthers have eight more wins since returning to the finals, but they will have a home ice advantage for their next series against rivals Tampa Bay Lightning or the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Florida looked on the verge of victory in the regulations when Gustav Forsling tripped Niklas Baxtrom with 1:09 left in the third period. TJ Oshie scored 6 seconds in the match in Washington to send the crowd of over 18,000 people in a rage.
These fans were silent after Verhe scored his sixth goal of the series with 2:46 after extra time. Verhaeghe, the leading scorer of Florida in the series, missed the morning skates and was considered a decision during the match.
Acquisition deadline for trade Claude Giroud and captain Alexander Barkov celebrated in the third period to bring the Panthers forward. Ryan Lomberg scored Florida’s first goal of 2:29 after Nick Dowd put the Capitals on the board.
Lomberg’s result confirmed the decision of interim coach Andrew Brunet to put him in the place of Anthony Duckler, who scored 31 goals in the regular season, but had only one shot on goal so far in the series. The Panthers need an attack wherever they get it, after again failing to score in the power game and extending their land to 0 of 18 in the series.
Their last victory in the series came on June 1, 1996, when they beat Pittsburgh in Game 7 to qualify for the final. The Panthers were swept away by Colorado, which would begin a 26-year wait between wins in the series.
In addition to the Seattle Kraken expansion, every other NHL franchise has won at least two series during that period. Detroit won 27, Pittsburgh 24, Tampa Bay 22 and Colorado won 20. Florida kept waiting and waiting for only one, until Friday.
The capitals have not won a playoff series since lifting the Cup in 2018 and were eliminated in the first round at home for the third time during this period.
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