Capitals use big third period to take 1-0 series lead over Florida (w/highlights)

The Washington Capitals scored three goals in the third period on Tuesday night to take Game 1 of their series with the Florida Panthers by a score of 4-2.

Capitals forward Tom Wilson got the scoring started less than four minutes into the first period on the powerplay.

Late in the first period, Panthers forward Sam Bennett took the puck from his own zone and as soon as he got to the top of the circles in Washington's zone, he ripped the puck off the post and in the net past Vitek Vanecek to tie the game at 1-1.

Less than one minute into the second period, Panthers forward Claude Giroux scored his 26th career Stanley Cup Playoff goal to give Florida a 2-1 lead.

Flash forward to the third period and that's where things went south for the Florida Panthers. Evgeny Kuznetsov tied the game at 2-2 and less than two minutes after that, T.J. Oshie gave the Capitals their second lead of the night.

Lars Eller went on to add an empty netter with 49 seconds remaining in the third as Washington took a 4-2 lead.

It was an important road victory for the Washington Capitals, but they didn't do it unscathed. Forward Tom Wilson left the game in the first period with a lower-body injury and is still being evaluated by team doctors.

Laviolette didn't say exactly when it happened, only thing I can remember in the game before Wilson left was when he tried to hit Weegar, but instead took the brunt of the hit on the boards.— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) May 4, 2022

Meanwhile, defenceman John Carlson left the game in the third period after getting hit in the head by Panthers forward Sam Bennett. No penalty was called on the play, but it wouldn't be shocking if Bennett has a hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety on Wednesday.

👀😡#AllCaps pic.twitter.com/rbPH56xsUD— Marcus Boutilier (@SportMajor) May 4, 2022

Game 2 between the Capitals and Panthers is set for Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet360 in Canada and TBS in the United States.

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