Panthers rout Capitals in Game 2 to even series

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The bounce-back game that the Florida Panthers needed started, perhaps fittingly, with a puck that took a fortuitous bounce.

A burst here. A burst there. And just like that, series tied.

Aleksander Barkov and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist and the Panthers beat the Washington Capitals 5-1 on Thursday night to even the Eastern Conference first-round series at a game apiece.

"It's nice. It's nice to win. That's all we want to do," Barkov said. "Obviously, we didn't play the right way in the first game. This game, we kept building and we got better as the game went on."

Aaron Ekblad, Anton Lundell and Mason Marchment also scored for Florida, the top overall seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 shots.

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Florida Panthers teammates celebrate a goal by Florida Panthers left wing Mason Marchment (17) during the second period of Game 2 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series , Thursday, May 5, 2022, in Sunrise, Fla.  (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

"Bob kept us in the game, gave us a chance to win," Barkov said.

Nicklas Backstrom scored for Washington. Vitek Vanecek gave up five goals on 19 shots in the first two periods, and Ilya Samsonov went into the Capitals’ net for the third period — stopping all 17 shots he faced in the final 20 minutes.

The series shifts to Washington, with Game 3 on Saturday and Game 4 on Monday night.

"We got a tied series going back to Washington," Backstrom said. "Looking forward to playing in front of our own fans."

It was just Florida’s sixth win in its last 19 home playoff games going back to 1996, and matched the biggest victory