Despite the negligible chances of passing to the second round, which gave “Washington” before the start of the playoffs, the series does not lose intrigue. Although the “Floridas” predicted a trouble-free confrontation with the “Capitals”, which will end in four or five games, the teams went to the fourth meeting in Washington with a score of 2-1 in the series in favor of the hosts.

The team of Alexander Ovechkin rushed to prove the validity of their advantage immediately, and they managed to open the scoring in the eighth minute thanks to the efforts of T.J. Oshi, who corrected the puck after a shot from the blue line. And for this he didn’t even need a stick!

Another great moment to upset Sergey Bobrovsky was also Evgeny Kuznetsov, who received a cross from the left flank from Ovechkin, but failed to score. But “Florida” responded with an accurate shot after Carter Verhage ran one on one with Ilya Samsonov and outplayed the Russian goalkeeper.

Photo: © Justin Tang / Keystone Press Agency / Global Look Press

The second period began with a conversation between the captain of “Washington” and striker Anthony Manta. Ovechkin, sitting on a bench, explained something to his partner, probably acting as a mentor. But the game “Capitals” from such instructions did not improve, and the period brought itself to the asset “Florida”. First, the “Panthers” knocked on the gates of Samsonov, playing in the majority for almost 6 minutes.

And then they stood in the minority 3 to 5. Moreover, the fine for delaying Kuznetsov, who dangerously threatened the gates of Florida, was mistakenly received by Bobrovsky, who did not interfere with his compatriot in any way. It was done for him by a defender who escaped punishment. According to the results of the 20-minute “Capitals” struck only 4 shots on target opponent. So how are they going to win?

The answer to this question was born by itself in the third period. The game became more open, the teams acted on a collision course, rushed with all their might to someone else’s goal, but tried to retreat in time to the defense. Therefore, the third goal in the meeting happened in an unexpected way: first, forward “Panthers” Samuel Bennett, who owned the puck and was in the center of the site, came under the power of TJ Oshi. Forward “Capitals” took the puck from him, and then put his shoulder, dropping it on the ice. For a fraction of a second players, “Florida” hesitated, waiting for the referee’s whistle, but the game continued.

Ovechkin and Kuznetsov took advantage of the opponent’s confusion: the first one picked up the puck after Osha’s hit and sent it ahead of time to Evgeny, who rolled out one on one with Bobrovsky, drove past the gate and hammered it into the net with a sweeping throw. The bench of “Florida”, which has not yet departed from the unnoticed power Oshi on Bennett, does not seem to understand what happened, and why the referee forgave this technique. Coach Andrew Brunett was furious, demanding that Oshi be punished, and Panther fans on social networks were also indignant, confident that Kuznetsov’s goal could not be counted.

Photo: © REUTERS/Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports

“Washington” moved to the third victory in the series, but “Florida” was able to avoid stepping on the brink. At the end of the third period, Bobrovsky left the gate, giving way to the sixth field player, and the Panthers, with a numerical advantage, moved the meeting into overtime two minutes before the end of regular time, avoiding a super sensation, which would have been a score of 1-3 in the series.

In extra time, the Panthers, obviously excited by the injustice, decided to remind who won the regular season and rushed to attack. It took them only 5 minutes to build the winning goal. Realized the decisive shot jumped off the bench Verhage, who was able to finish off the puck only on the second attempt. The arbitrator, just in case, checked the episode for interference with the goalkeeper, but recognized the goal as clean.

Despite the heroic efforts of Samsonov, who saved 29 shots per game, and the fact that “Washington” was close to victory, he failed to resist the most attacking team in the league. With the score 2-2, the series again moves to Sunrise.