Alexander Semin had a goal and an assist during
Washington's five-goal first period, and the Capitals cruised past
the Florida Panthers 5-2 Wednesday night.
The Capitals, who hadn't scored more than five goals in any of
their first four games, tallied five in the opening 15 minutes
against the Panthers. The last time Washington scored five goals in
a period was on Feb. 12, 2003, in a 5-1 win at Atlanta.
Olie Kolzig had 34 saves, Jamie Heward and Matt Bradley scored
unassisted goals and Richard Zednik had two assists for the
Capitals.
Florida goaltender Alex Auld was removed at 12:36 after yielding
four goals on 12 shots. Josef Stumpel and Nathan Horton scored
power-play goals for the Panthers, who were 7-0-1 against the
Capitals last season.
Washington's first two shots produced the game's first goal with
1:28 elapsed. After Zednik charged down the right side and took a
shot that trickled behind Auld into the crease, Semin tapped in the
rebound for his team-high sixth goal.
Stumpel tied it less than five minutes later, scoring his first
goal of the season on Florida's initial power-play opportunity.
Washington then scored four goals in just over seven minutes.
Chris Clark started the onslaught at 7:08, and Heward made it 3-1 by
scoring on a straight-on slap shot from about five feet inside the
blue line.
Auld's night ended 39 seconds later, when Kris Beech scored off a
pass from Semin. Backup goalie Ed Belfour fared no better at the
outset, yielding a goal to Bradley within two minutes of his
entering the game.
Although the Capitals rarely have the opportunity to protect a
four-goal cushion, they did so masterfully in the second period,
killing a 5-on-3 power play and keeping Florida scoreless despite
being outshot 13-4.
Horton scored with 11:48 left off a pass from Stumpel.
Notes: The Capitals assigned D John Erskine to Hershey Bears of
the AHL. ... Florida has at least one PP goal in five straight
games. The Panthers came in ranked second in the NHL in PP
percentage (28.6). ... Semin (6-2-8) took over the team scoring lead
from Clark (2-5-7). ... Washington's Alex Ovechkin was held without
a point for the first time since the opener.
