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."
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