The Washington Capitals rallied with three unanswered goals in the third period to upset the top-seeded Florida Panthers 4-2 in Tuesday’s Game 1. Washington trailed 2-1 entering the third. The first goal to spark the three-goal rally came from forward Evgeny Kuznetsov. However, the unsung hero on the play was the captain Alex Ovechkin.
Kuznetsov gave Ovechkin credit for his poke check that led to the breakaway goal.
“That’s why he’s legend, right?” Kuznetsov said per The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir. “A good thing he didn’t ice that puck after so I got [the] breakaway.”
Panthers defenseman MacKenzie Weegar skated towards the neutral zone. Ovechkin met him poking away the puck and tapping in slightly in front of him and a falling Weegar past the blue line.
Kuznetsov took care of the rest with a great finish to beat Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game at 2-2. That goal swung the momentum back to the Capitals and they ultimately finished the job.
Nicklas Backstrom set up T.J. Oshie with a beautiful pass to get the game-winning goal 10:37 into the third. Lars Eller put the finishing touches on the night with an empty-netter with 48.2 seconds remaining.
But it all started with an incredible defensive play from the 36-year old captain. Who says all Ovechkin does is score goals?
