The Florida Panthers picked right up where they left off at the All-Star break, easily beating the Washington Capitals by a 5-2 count at Verizon Center. The win was Florida's fourth in a row and gave them a seven-point lead in the Atlantic Division.
After the Capitals failed to take advantage of a brief 5-on-3 opportunity, Jonathan Huberdeau opened the scoring at 10:43 off the first period, beating Philipp Grubauer from in close after taking a pass from Jaromir Jagr. Aleksander Barkov picked up the secondary assist on the play.