The Florida Panthers played their first home game in nearly three weeks on Thursday night when they welcomed the Washington Capitals to Sunrise. Florida fell behind early but were quick to battle back, defeating the Capitals 6-3 at Amerant Bank Arena. Washington took a 1-0 lead on a nice deflection by Brandon Duhaime that came on the heels of several great saves by Daniil Tarasov at the 8:25 mark of the first period. Exactly 27 seconds later, Evan Rodrigues pounced on a Niko Mikkola rebound in the slot and beat Logan Thompson to quickly tie the game at one. Florida would then take their first lead of the night early in the second period. Just after the Capitals killed off a Tom Wilson holding penalty, Cole Schwindt deflected a point shot by Gus Forsling that eluded Thompson to give Florida a 2-1 edge at the 3:05 mark of the middle frame. The Panthers doubled their lead later in the period, and this time they did it while on the power play. A long shot by Carter Verhaeghe was stopped by Thompson, but Sam Reinhart was right there to backhand the rebound into the net to give the Cats a 3-1 lead with 5:22 to go in the second period. It didn’t take long once the final period began for Washington to cut into Florida’s lead. Former Panthers draft pick Justin Sourdif scored a tap-in goal off a great feed from Jakob Chychrun less than a minute into the third. Florida reclaimed their two-goal lead a few minutes later, when Anton Lundell fed a wide-open Reinhart in the slot and his shot sailed past the flailing glove of Thompson to make it 4-2 Panthers. With Nick Dowd serving a double-minor for hooking and unsportsmanlike conduct, Florida added a fifth goal on a shot by Seth Jones that at first appeared to hit off the crossbar, but replay showed it quickly went in and out of the top of the net. Caps defenseman Rasmus Sandin got a long shot past Tarasov with 7:20 to go, cutting the Cats lead back down to two, but that would be as close as they would get. Eetu Luostarinen scored from just inside Florida’s blue line with 90 seconds to go, giving Florida a 6-3 lead. Assisting on the goal was Brad Marchand, his second point of the game, giving him 1,000 points in his NHL career. On to the Lightning. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Players separated by 15 years, 1100 NHL games helping fuel Panthers recent run of consistency [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/players-separated-by-15-years-1100-nhl-games-helping-fuel-panthers-recent-run-of-consistency] Panthers kick off extended home stretch with battle against Alex Ovechkin, Capitals [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/game-day/panthers-kick-off-extended-home-stretch-with-battle-against-alex-ovechkin-capitals] Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk And Brother Brady Creating First Active NHL Players Podcast [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-matthew-tkachuk-and-brother-brady-creating-first-active-nhl-players-podcast] Panthers return to South Florida playing well, will begin extended stretch of home games this week [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/panthers-return-to-south-florida-playing-well-will-begin-extended-stretch-of-home-games-this-week] Donovan Sebrango Is Looking Like Another Panthers Waiver Claim Gem [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/players/donovan-sebrango-is-looking-like-another-panthers-waiver-claim-gem] Photo caption: Nov 13, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers center Sam Reinhart (13) scores against the Washington Capitals during the second period at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
