National Hockey League
Florida 5, Washington 4
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, November 4, 2021
Where: FLA Live Arena, Sunrise, Florida
Referees: Ghislain Hebert, Brian Pochmara
Linesmen: Tyson Baker, Dan Kelly
Attendance: 12542

In a game that featured four goaltenders, Aleksander Barkov scored two goals as the Florida Panthers remained hot with a 5-4 overtime win over the Washington Capitals on Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla.

The winning goal, which came with 3:05 left in OT, was credited to Eetu Luostarinen, as his pass went in off the stick of Washington's Tom Wilson.

The Panthers have yet to lose in regulation this season.

Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who stopped all 13 shots faced, left the game after the first period due to a lower-body injury. He was replaced by Spencer Knight, who made 25 saves.

Meanwhile, there was confusion in the nets for Washington. Ilya Samsonov was announced as the starter, but Vitek Vanecek played the first 105 seconds before Samsonov replaced him. After Samsonov allowed three goals, Washington went back to Vanecek.

Washington's Alex Ovechkin scored his league-leading 10th goal of the season. His 740 career goals place him one behind Brett Hull for fourth place on the all-time NHL list.

Barkov has seven goals this season, including five in his past three games. He also has 188 career goals, tying him with Olli Jokinen for the most in Panthers history.

Florida also got goals from Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour.

Washington got the rest of its goals from Daniel Sprong, Wilson and rookie Connor McMichael. It was McMichael's first career goal.

Chase Priskie became the first Florida-born player to make his NHL debut for the Panthers. Priskie -- who is from Broward County, where the Panthers' arena is located -- played 10:37 but did not get a point.

Florida led 2-0 after the first period as Barkov and Ekblad scored.

Knight started the second period and was beaten 43 seconds later on Sprong's breakaway. The play was set up by Anthony Mantha's perfect stretch pass.

The Panthers made it 3-1, however, as Montour fired a perfectly placed shot to the top left corner. Samsonov never saw the puck and was immediately removed in favor of Vanecek.

With 7:50 left in the second, Barkov appeared to score again, but the goal was wiped out due to goalie interference on Patric Hornqvist.

Barkov did get his second tally just eight minutes later, on a power play.

But Washington scored the next three goals to tie the score 4-4. The Caps got goals on Ovechkin's wrist shot with 1:49 left in the second and on Wilson's deflection with just 17 seconds left in the second. McMichael then scored with 13:04 left in the third, setting up the overtime drama.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Washington   Florida
Alex Ovechkin 3 Points Aleksander Barkov 2
Alex Ovechkin 1 Goals Aleksander Barkov 2
Alex Ovechkin 2 Assists Gustav Forsling 2
N/A Power Play Goals Aleksander Barkov 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Vitek Vanecek .867 Save Percentage Sergei Bobrovsky 1.000
Ilya Samsonov 15 Saves Spencer Knight 25
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Washington 42 4 0-2 2-3 6 24
Florida 33 5 1-3 2-2 4 23
Upcoming Games
  • Florida will play their next game at home against Carolina. The Panthers have a W/L % of .875 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
  • Washington will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Capitals have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .750 after a loss.