Conklin, Cats Shutout Caps.

Washington -- The Florida Panthers won their ninth in-a-row in style stunning the home crowd and increasing their lead in the Southeast Division to three points.

Ty Conklin stopped 22 shots for his second shutout of the season and Evgeni Malkin had two goals and a helper as the Panthers continued their hot streak with a 5-0 victory over the Washington Capitals last night.

Conklin signed in the off-season to be the number one goalie in Florida won his team leading 24th game. Malkin scored the game winner with Nathan Horton, Justin Williams and Michel Ouellet also scoring for the Panthers.

The power-play was a huge weapon for the Southern Cats Friday night. Scoring three goals on the power-play while not taking any penalties was a huge advantage in this game.

Washington drops to three points behind the Panthers in the Southeast with a precious three games in hand. The Caps are still in charge of their own destiny. Next weekend they play three times while the Panthers do not play a single game. Obviously the Caps would like to play well and zip past the resting Panthers.

"We can't worry about those games in hand," Panthers captain Ed Jovanovski said. "You always do a little scoreboard watching. But our focus has always remained on our opponents."

The Panthers focus has been crystal clear this season, Jovanovski explains. "Back in November we read about the Washington - Atlanta bet. They totally tossed us aside. We were nothing to them. Our coaching staff posted it onto our wall and we have used it as motivation all season long. We want to win the Southeast again. Beating those teams three years straight would be huge for us."

Streaking Panthers Eyeing Playoffs.

Florida -- Last night's 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators extended the Florida Panthers winning streak to four and saw the team climb into 7th in the Eastern Conference.

Florida held the Sens to a season low 15 shots against and received a game winning goal from Blake Wheeler his second in the last three games. "Overall i was very happy with the win tonight, said Cats coach Pete DeBoer. "I thought we contained them pretty good, but they made it close and scored on limited chances and it shows what a good team Ottawa is."

Sixteen games ago, the Panthers battled and lost to the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 in a shootout. Even though they lost, it was a game which might have turned the season around for Florida.

Since losing to Buffalo, the Panthers are 12-4 with significant wins over Washington, Atlanta, Dallas and Ottawa. During this streak the Panthers have used a powerful offensive push to their advantage. The last time a team out-shot the Panthers was the Buffalo loss 16 games ago.

Southeast Scene:
With precious few games remaining the Washington Capitals are hanging on by a thread to their Division lead. They are currently stumbling down-the-stretch with a three point advantage over Atlanta and Florida. The Caps are certainly looking over their shoulder and wondering if they can stay the course and close out the Division title. With three games in hand on both their rivals they should be able to nail down the title.

MALKIN KEEPS HIS BEACH HOUSE

Sunrise, Florida -- The Florida Panthers signed Russian forward Evgeni Malkin to a new five-year contract worth $28.5 million on Monday.

Malkin, who leads his team in goals and points, is entering the final year of his rookie contract with the Panthers. After practice on Monday Malkin and Florida GM IronMike ripped up his old deal and signed a replacement. The new deal is effective immediately.

"We are very excited to have Evgeni signed to a long-term contract," said Panthers general manager IronMike.

"This is an important signing for our club. We are overjoyed with Evgeni and with his devotion to the future of the franchise and the city. This signing continues to ensure the young core of this team can stay intact for years to come. I want to thank Evgeni and his agent Mark Kopsack."

Malkin was dealt to Florida from the Nashville Predators on January 22, 2006. Malkin followed up his Selanne Trophy-winning rookie campaign by scoring a league high 93 points. Which helped him win the Gretzky Award this past season.

He added 18 points in 20 playoff games, as the Panthers lost to the Vancouver Canucks in the ’06 NsHL Cup final.

Later on Monday the club also announced they had locked up goalie Tim Thomas to a four-year contract. Sources say the deal could be worth up to $11 million.

Thomas, 35, has played so well this season the Panthers were forced to set-up a two-man rotation system for their goalies.

"Timmy has become a mainstay in such a short time. Every start, every practice he works very hard to earn his playing time. Now his numbers are matching his committment," IronMike said.

"We now believe with Ty and Timmy we have the type of goalies to compete with anyone in the league."