SUNRISE, F.L. - Without Alexander Ovechkin, the Capitals came out flying in Florida and ambushed the Florida Panthers 4-1 at the Bank Atlantic Center on Friday night.  Brendan Morrison scored two goals and Jose Theodore made 28 saves on 29 shots in the victory.  Although the Caps scored a big victory, both defensemen Mike Green (upper body) and Jeff Schultz (lower body) suffered injuries. 

 

Both teams were missing their star players on Friday night.  Ovechkin was unable to play due to his upper body injury sustained against Columbus on Sunday night.  Although Ovechkin claims he is feeling better with each passing day, he will not play on Saturday night and is still unlikely to return in the near future.  Media reports speculate that he might be out for as much as two weeks.

Florida was without their young sharp-shooter David Booth, who was knocked out of a game last week when Mike Richards of the Philadelphia Flyers blindsided him in the neutral zone.  Booth hit the ice violently and sustained numerous injuries according to the Panther’s training staff.  He is also not expected to return anytime soon.

The Southeast Division game began with a blistering start with both teams racing up and down the ice attempting to score the game’s opening goal.  Both Tomas Vokoun and Theodore faced intense pressure early on, especially during one stretch early in the first period where the Panthers hit the post twice in 15 seconds.  Cory Stillman had a fantastic chance but hit the outside of the right post, preventing an early Florida lead.  Not to be outdone, the Caps put enough pressure on Vokoun to direct the puck to stop on the goal-line but no one in a white sweater for Washington could jam home the rebound.

After the flurry of action, Tyler Sloan, for the second consecutive game, on the line with Chris Clark and Mathieu Perreault opened the scoring for Washington when Clark found him with a quick pass in the slot.  Sloan left no doubt as he fired a wrist shot between Vokoun’s legs for an early 1-0 Caps lead.  The goal by Sloan broke a long shutout streak maintained by the Florida goaltender.

Bruce Boudreau emphasized “rolling” all four lines on the ice early on not only because the Caps are participating in a home-in-home series with Florida but he also wants to utilize the depth on the roster.  On the positive side for the Panthers, they were able to neutralize the line of Nicklas Backstrom and Alexander Semin in the first period, keeping the duo in check.  Both teams had 12 shots on goal in the evenly played first period and the Capitals took the 1-0 lead into the locker room.

Green suffered an upper-body injury after making a check in the first period and did not return to the game.  The injury forced Tyler Sloan, who had been playing forward for the last few games, to move back to his more natural position of defense.  Jeff Schultz also vanished from the ice during the second period with a lower body injured and never returned to the game.  The injury updates on both players were vague after the game.

Tom Poti took over the offensive role from defense early on in the second period when he stormed in on net but could not flip the hockey puck over Vokoun to extend the Washington advantage.  Even though Poti could not convert, Morrison scored his first goal of the game when Brooks Laich rotated to the front of the net and fed Morrison with a pass.  Morrison waited until the goaltender committed and flipped the puck over Vokoun’s stacked pads to give Washington a 2-0 second period lead.  The goal was Morrison’s fifth goal of the year and a big turning point in the game.

Although Washington built a 2-0 lead, Vokoun made a ridiculous save sprawling across the crease at the 18:00 minute mark of the second period denying Mike Knuble on the doorstep off a terrific pass from David Steckel who was on the ice due to a botched line change.  Vokoun arrived at the right post before Knuble could lift his shot into the open corner of the goal and shuffled the puck to the right hand corner of the rink.  Washington outshot Florida 10-8 in the second period and maintained their 2-0 lead after the second period.   

A two-goal lead after the second period was something that Coach Boudreau and the Capitals have become familiar with throughout the course of this season.  Too many times Boudreau has witnessed his team surrender the next goal and struggle to close out a tough opponent when they maintain a lead.  On the power-play after a rough penalty called on the Florida Panthers, Brian Pothier left very little doubt in the result in the game when he scored off a slap shot at the 6:56 mark to give Washington a commanding 3-0 lead.  The assists on the goal were credited to Backstrom and Tomas Fleischman and effectively ended the game early in the period.

Nathan Horton scored a power-play goal for the only Florida tally of the game and Morrison iced the game with an empty-net goal to give Washington the 4-1 victory.

Unfortunately, the game did not end peacefully as Shaone Morrisonn committed an ugly boarding penalty which he received five penalty minutes and a ten minute misconduct for his actions.  Although Morrison assuredly was not trying to injure the Panther player, it seems likely that he will receive a phone call from the NHL Disciplinary Office at some point.  A suspension to Morrison combined with injuries to Green and Schultz could be a difficult situation for Bruce Boudreau.  Even with Tyler Sloan moving back to defense, Boudreau would still have to find replacements for the other two defensemen if they are unable to play.

The Washington Capitals will venture back to the Verizon Center in Washington DC to play the second of their back-to-back series on Saturday night at 7 pm with the Florida Panthers.

 Game Notes:

-  Eric Fehr (ribs) and Boyd Gordon (back) are still unable to play while John Erskine was a healthy scratch on Friday Night

D Bryan McCabe played in his 1,000th NHL game for his career.  There was a pre-game ceremony to honor this terrific accomplishment