Panthers Road Trip Off to Rough Start with Loss to Capitals

The Florida Panthers opened their road trip with a 4-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon. Brady Tkachuk scored two first-period goals to give Florida an early lead, but Washington responded with three unanswered goals from Alex Tuch, Aliaksei Protas, and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Sam Bennett brought Florida within one late in the third period with an extra attacker, but Washington held on for the win.

Panthers forward Sandis Vilmanis left the game during the first period following a hit from behind by Washington's Tom Wilson, who received a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct. Florida entered the contest without Anton Lundell due to an undisclosed injury, and goaltender Akira Schmid allowed four goals in the defeat.