from Samantha Pell of The Washington Post,

In a flash, Washington Capitals winger T.J. Oshie ripped through the middle of the ice, taking a peek at Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky before looking left. Waiting on that side was center Nicklas Backstrom; he slickly found Oshie, who got between two defenders and flicked the puck past Bobrovsky with ease.

Just like that, Washington’s optimism was soaring again. Oshie’s goal at 10:37 of the third period held up as the winner Tuesday night in a 4-2 Game 1 victory over the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Panthers at FLA Live Arena. Evgeny Kuznetsov had scored less than three minutes earlier, meaning Florida had coughed up a 2-1 lead entering the final period. Lars Eller produced the final score on an empty-netter with less than a minute left.

“Typical Nicky fashion, [he] sauced it through a guy’s legs and right on my tape,” Oshie said. “I just redirected it, didn’t see it go in — so he had to come tell me that we scored.”

In the regular season, Florida did not lose a game in regulation when leading after two periods, finishing 39-0-1. Tuesday’s game was the first time the Capitals not only overcame a third-period deficit to win a playoff game since the clinching Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup finals, but it was also their first road playoff win — excluding the 2020 postseason, when the pandemic forced the playoffs to be played in two Canadian cities — since that night in Las Vegas when the Capitals claimed the NHL crown.

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