Matthew Tkachuk led all players with three points. He's got 12 goals and 27 points in 15 games since Jan. 1.

The Florida Panthers got back to playing the kind of hockey they’ve grown accustomed to after a brief bump in the road following the All-Star break.

Florida grew more dominant as the game pressed on, defeating the Washington Capitals 4-2 at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday night.

Things didn’t start out well for the Panthers though, thanks to an on friend.

Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin may be having an off season, but he didn’t seem to remember that when scoring a power play goal on a one-timer from his usual spot inside the left circle.

The late-first period tally gave the Caps a 1-0 lead.

Florida evened up the score early in the second on a goal that went off Matthew Tkachuk’s skate, and it looked like they took their first lead a few minutes later but a snipe by Evan Rodrigues was taken off the board after a review for offside.

The frustration would continue to mount for the Cats as the middle frame would go by. Despite controlling the majority of the play, a turnover by Tkahcuk in the neutral zone would lead directly to a 3-on-2 for the Caps and a backdoor deflection goal by Anthony Mantha.

Fortunately for the Panthers, Washington continued to take penalty after penalty.

After coming away with a big fat donut on their first four man advantages, Florida finally cashed in on number five thanks to a nice deflection by Sam Reinhart for his 38th goal of the season.

Once the puck dropped on the final frame, the Panthers really began to take the game over.

Holding a 13-3 shot advantage through the first 15 minutes of the third period, an excellent shift by Florida’s fourth line would result in a goal by Ryan Lomberg, his third of the season.

An empty net goal by Eetu Luostarinen would put the victory on ice for the Cats.

Next up is a Saturday night battle with the Colorado Avalanche.

Here are some thoughts and observations from Thursday’s battle with the Caps:

Florida’s penalty kill went 2-for-3, including a huge kill during the game’s final minutes.

The power play went just 1-for-5, but what a big one it was.

Getting that power play goal was (who else but) Reinhart. He’s now got 21 power play goals this season.

Another three-point night for Tkachuk, his fifth game with at least three points since the calendar flipped to 2024.

Aaron Ekblad led all players with seven shots on goal. He had four in the first period alone. 

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