Ovechkin scores as Caps oust Canadiens

AROUND THE NHL

The Panthers’ Carter Verhaeghe (23) makes a move to score past Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy during the first period of Wednesday’s game. The Panthers wrapped up the series with a 6-3 victory in Game 5. Chris O’Meara / the associated press

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The Florida Panthers advanced to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs after a 6-3 victory in Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.

Eetu Luostarinen had a goal and three assists. Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, Anton Lundell, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett all scored for the visiting Panthers as Florida defeated their in-state rival in five games for the second consecutive season. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 26 saves to help the Panthers reach the second round for the fourth consecutive season.

Capitals 4, Canadiens 1: Alex Ovechkin scored on a laser of a shot off a faceoff, Logan Thompson made some spectacular saves among his 28 and Washington beat the Montreal in Game 5 of their first-round series to advance.

It’s the Capitals’ first series win since capturing the Stanley Cup in 2018, and they clinched at home for the first time since 2015. They face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round with a spot in the Eastern Conference final at stake.

Ovechkin led the way with his power-play goal 11 minutes in, setting off chants of “Ovi! Ovi!” from the juiced up crowd. Pierre-Luc Dubois delivered a perfect pass to Jakob Chychrun, who beat Jakub Dobes just over two minutes later. Tom Wilson provided a valuable insurance goal late in the second period.

Fans expressed their appreciation for Thompson with chants of “LT! LT!” when he turned aside Kaiden Guhle on a three-on-one rush and with under two minutes left when he flashed his glove to rob Nick Suzuki with Dobes pulled for an extra attacker. Brandon Duhaime sealed it with an empty-netter with 25.6 seconds left.