WASHINGTON (AP) — Alex Ovechkin scored on a laser of a shot off a faceoff, Logan Thompson made some spectacular saves among his 28 and the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in Game 5 of their first-round series Wednesday night to advance in the NHL playoffs.
It’s the Capitals’ first series win since capturing the Stanley Cup in 2018, and they clinched at home for the first time since 2015. They face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round with a spot in the Eastern Conference final at stake.
Ovechkin led the way with his power-play goal 11 minutes in, setting off chants of “Ovi! Ovi!” from the juiced up crowd. Pierre-Luc Dubois delivered a perfect pass to Jakob Chychrun, who beat Jakub Dobes just over two minutes later. Tom Wilson provided a valuable insurance goal late in the second period.
Fans expressed their appreciation for Thompson with chants of “LT! LT!” when he turned aside Kaiden Guhle on a three-on-one rush and with under two minutes left when he flashed his glove to rob Nick Suzuki with Dobes pulled for an extra attacker. Brandon Duhaime sealed it with an empty-netter with 25.6 seconds left.
PANTHERS 6, LIGHTNING 3
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists to lead Florida to a victory against Tampa Bay and advance Florida to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart also scored for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves as the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers defeated their in-state rival in five games in the first round for the second consecutive season.
Panthers will play the winner of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Ottawa Senators, which Toronto currently leads 3-2.
The Associated Press
