Washington Capitals (44-26-12, fourth in the Metropolitan Division) vs. Florida Panthers (58-18-6, first in the Atlantic Division)
Sunrise, Florida; Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. EDT
LINE: Panthers -223, Capitals +180; over/under is 6.5
NHL PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND: Panthers host series opener
BOTTOM LINE: The Florida Panthers host the Washington Capitals to open the Eastern Conference first round. The teams meet Tuesday for the fourth time this season. The Panthers went 2-1 against the Capitals during the regular season. In their last regular season matchup on Dec. 30, the Panthers won 5-4.
Florida has gone 32-6-0 at home and 58-18-6 overall. The Panthers have gone 23-5-2 when scoring a power-play goal.
Washington is 44-26-12 overall and 24-8-5 on the road. The Capitals have given up 242 goals while scoring 270 for a +28 scoring differential.
TOP PERFORMERS: Sam Reinhart has 33 goals and 51 assists for the Panthers. Aleksander Barkov Jr. has five goals and four assists over the past 10 games.
Evgeny Kuznetsov has scored 24 goals with 54 assists for the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin has five goals and two assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Panthers: 7-3-0, averaging 3.8 goals, 6.4 assists, 4.8 penalties and 14.3 penalty minutes while giving up 3.1 goals per game.
Capitals: 4-4-2, averaging 3.5 goals, 6.2 assists, 3.2 penalties and 7.5 penalty minutes while giving up 3.4 goals per game.
INJURIES: Panthers: Aaron Ekblad: out (lower-body), Markus Nutivaara: out (undisclosed), Jonas Johansson: out (covid-19).
Capitals: Carl Hagelin: out (eye), Alex Ovechkin: day to day (upper-body).
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