The Washington Capitals have a 1-0 lead against the top team in the Eastern Conference after beating the Florida Panthers, 4-2, on Tuesday.
In the regular season, Florida was 39-0-1 in the 40 games it led after two periods. The Panthers led 2-1 after the second period, but Alex Ovechkin got a steal in the third period and found Evgeny Kuznetsov for a game-tying goal with less than 12 minutes left.
THE BIRD TAKES FLIGHT! pic.twitter.com/0zCppfF69W
— x - Washington Capitals (@Capitals) May 4, 2022
About two minutes later, T.J. Oshie redirected a pass from Nicklas Backstrom into the net to give the Capitals the lead.
B-E-A-UUUUTIFUL pic.twitter.com/garQt2scQD
— x - Washington Capitals (@Capitals) May 4, 2022
The game-sealing goal came in the final minute when Lars Eller put the puck into an empty net with 49 seconds left.
The Panthers finished the regular season with a NHL-best 58-18-6 record. The Capitals earned the final wild card berth in the Eastern Conference by finishing 44-26-12.
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