Panthers aim to fix power play against Capitals

Don't blame the Florida Panthers if they are feeling beat up right now.

The Panthers, who are set to play host to the Washington Capitals on Monday night in Sunrise, Fla., are also intent on fixing their power play.

On Saturday, the Panthers went 1-for-11 with the man advantage and also allowed a short-handed goal in a 3-2 loss to the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Panthers finished sixth in the NHL last season with a 25.3% conversion rate on its power-play chances. This season, however, the Panthers are ranked in the bottom-half of the league with the man advantage.

Panthers coach Paul Maurice said his team was off track early Saturday, before the situation improved.

"In the first half of the game, it looked like we hadn't played in a while," Maurice said. "Our power play then went from struggling to all the chances you could want."

Perhaps the Panthers can generate more chances Monday and actually convert.

As for feeling beat up, that's what happens when you play a fight-filled game where 39 penalties are called.

Assuming everyone survived that affair in relatively good shape, the Panthers are powered by a pair of 37-year-olds: winger Brad Marchand and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

Marchand, who is on a seven-game point streak, leads Florida in goals and assists with 21 of each.

Bobrovsky, who is 16-8-1 with a 2.79 goals-against average and three shutouts, owns 445 career wins. He needs one more victory to pass Terry Sawchuk for eighth place on the all-time NHL list.

The Panthers, who are 8-3-0 over their past 11 games, could start backup goalie Daniil Tarasov (4-6-1, 2.97 goals against).

Meanwhile, the Capitals are set to arrive in Sunrise following a 4-3 overtime win over the host New Jersey Devils on Saturday night.

Jakob Chychrun -- who was born and raised in Boca Raton, 22 miles north of Sunrise -- scored the game-winning goal with 54 seconds left in OT.

"Just put your head down and see if you can gain a step," Chychrun said of his mindset on Saturday.

Capitals center Aliaksei Protas, who has 14 goals and 13 assists this season, might be Washington's hottest player. He has seven points over his past five games, including four goals.

"I'm moving him around different lines," Capitals coach Spencer Carberry said.

The Capitals, who are just 2-4-2 over their past eight games, are an older-type team in some key spots.

Tom Wilson, who leads the team in goals (17) and points (34), is 31. Future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin, who is tied for second with 15 goals and has 33 points, is 40. And defenseman John Carlson, who leads Washington in assists (21), turns 36 next month.

Ovechkin and Carlson are in the final year of their contracts.

The Capitals are younger at goalie, where Logan Thompson, 28, continues to improve in his fourth season as a full-time starting goalie in the NHL.

Thompson is 15-9-3 with a career-best 2.27 GAA. He finished fourth in the Vezina Trophy voting last season, and the Capitals signed him to a six-year, $35.1-million extension.

Washington's backup goalie is Charlie Lindgren (5-4-2, 3.07 GAA).