Florida Panthers Beat Capitals In Longest Shootout in NHL History

In one of the best games I have ever seen, the Florida Panthers defeated their former division foes, the Washington Capitals in a twenty round shootout. Yes, you read that right TWENTY. The shootout set multiple NHL records as you can see from the tweets below.

It was truly an amazing night so lets get right to the recap folks.

First Period

There was only one goal scored in the first period and it went the Florida Panthers way as Derek MacKenzie scored a nice goal off of a turnover by Caps defenceman Mike Green. The goal was Mackenzie’s third of the season and it was assisted by Scottie Upshall who returned from injury tonight. At the end of one, the shots were nine to six in favor of the Washington Capitals.

Second Period

In the second period the Caps would tie the game up on their top-ranked power-play. Troy Brouwer who was relentlessly working in front of the net ended up scoring the tying goal and it was assisted by the Caps two stars, Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. Towards the end of the period Scottie Upshall had a great breakaway opportunity to score but he couldn’t finish it off because of a nice sliding save by Brandon Holtby. Upshall didn’t look like he missed a beat after missing the past nine games with an injury. He was flying all around the ice and he was pulverizing anything that moved. He was one player that stuck out in tonight’s game.

Third Period

The third period was relatively uneventful until about the three minute mark when it appeared that Caps player Brooks Laich had jammed a puck into the back of the net. After the goal several Florida Panthers players went over to the referee to plead their case that the puck was kicked into the net. The played was reviewed by Toronto and it was deemed that Laich did in fact make a kicking motion with his skate and the the goal was waved off. The Panthers had escaped late game collapse.

Overtime

The overtime period saw great chances to end it for both teams. Alexander Ovechkin had a golden opportunity after he sped down the right side of the rink and fired a wrister but it just missed the top part of the net. Ovechkin’s shot was so hard that it wrapped all the way around the boards and onto the stick of a streaking Nick Bjugstad who launched a shot right off of the crossbar. The overtime frame went scoreless and it was on to the shooutout.

Shootout

For those that haven’t seen the shootout yet, I’m not going to spoil it for you as this was truly a hockey masterpiece. Just watch the record setting shootout unfold below.

The thing that amazed me the most is the fact that the Washington Capitals could have won the shootout five times but the Florida Panthers kept on matching them. This is one game that none of us Panthers fans will ever forget.

What did you think about the record setting shootout win? What stood out to you the most? Let usknow in the comments below as your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and be sure to check back often for all of your Florida Panthers news and updates.