Washington Capitals fans who went to bed early on Wednesday night will wake up to some absolutely stunning news.
The Caps scored in the first period of Game 5 of their Eastern Conference First Round playoff series with the Panthers to lead 1-0. Washington added two more goals early in the second period to go up 3-0. Some Caps fans could have gone to bed at that point thinking they had the game in hand leading 3-0.
They wouldn’t believe what happened next.
The Panthers scored three goals in the second to tie the game. Then they added two more in the third period to go up 5-3, which was the final.
Yes, Florida scoring five unanswered goals to win 5-3 and take their first lead in a playoff series since 2012.
Carter Verhaeghe scored the first and fourth goals for the Panthers. He also assisted on three goals, meaning he had a hand in every point scored by his team in the comeback win. Verhaeghe’s five points are a Florida postseason record.
Florida won the Presidents’ Trophy this season but fell behind 2-1 in the series. They won Game 4 on Monday in OT and then rallied back for a big victory in Game 5. They’re finally starting to act like the team that racked up 122 points during the regular season. And Washington now heads home for Game 6 looking to tie the series after their big collapse.
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