The Florida Panthers relinquished first place in the Southeast Division on Monday night, as the Washington Capitals overwhelmed the Cats for a 4-0 shutout win. Tomas Vokoun stood on his head against his old team, shutting out of the Panthers for the second time this season. Florida badly outshot the Capitals, 42-24, but simply could not find the back of the net against Vokoun.
Washington set the tone early, jumping out to a one-goal lead just 13 seconds into the game. From there, it was all Vokoun and superstar Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin had his first multi-goal game of the season, adding a power play blast past Scott Clemmensen to make it 2-0 at the end of the first. He added his second goal at the end of the second period on a highlight-reel unassisted effort which made it 4-0. Florida could not convert two power play chances in the final period to make a game of it. They were 0 for 4 on the power play all night. They now trail Washington by one point in the division, and will host the LA Kings on Thursday night looking to get back on track.
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