Panthers roll over Capitals
Florida ties series by scoring 5 goals in first two periods
Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist, and the Florida Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Thursday night to even the Eastern Conference first-round series at a game apiece.
Aaron Ekblad, Anton Lundell and Mason Marchment also scored for Florida, the top overall seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots.
Nicklas Backstrom scored for Washington. Vitek Vanecek gave up five goals on 18 shots in the first two periods, and Ilya Samsonov went into the Capitals’ net for the third period — stopping all 17 shots he faced in the final 20 minutes.
Notes: NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said former Florida coach Joel Quenneville hasn’t approached him about a return to coaching . ... New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff is coming back for a third straight season despite seeing his team miss the NHL playoffs yet again.