The Washington Capitals entered southern Florida intent on erasing a poor performance against the Atlanta Thrashers the previous evening. After a 19-save performance by Jose Theodore, the Caps (44-22-6-94, first in Southeast, third in East) walked out of BankAmerica Center with a needed 3-0 victory.

The shutout win was Theodore's second of the season, and 28th of his career.

Theodore was strong, but the Caps defense player much better than in recent games, and actually allowed zero shots in the third period. Coach Bruce Boudreau remarked afterward that he'd never been involved in a game where that had happened.

Brooks Laich and Viktor Kozlov scored for the Caps while the game was in doubt. Mike Green added an empty net goal with 1:27 remaining to send the moderate crowd home. John Erskine had assists on both Laich and Kozlov's goals.

Laich's goal was a short-handed goal. His wrist shot beat Tomas Vokoun, honored pregame for his 500th career game, from a short angle.

Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's leading scorer with 49 goals, was held once again without hitting the milestone. He did assist on Green's clincher, as did Alexander Semin.

Florida (34-26-10-78, third in East) lost their fourth straight game and second consecutive home game. The Panthers are among a group of teams fighting for their playoff lives, and trail Carolina by one point for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Caps continue their five-game road trip Thursday night in Tampa at 7:30 pm.
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SCORESHEET

1ST PERIOD
None

2ND PERIOD
05:46 Short - Brooks Laich (18), Wrist Shot. Assist: Erskine

3RD PERIOD
02:36 Viktor Kozlov (12), Wrist Shot. Assist: Nylander, Erskine
18:33 Mike Green (25), Empty Net. Assist: Semin, Ovechkin
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THREE STARS

1. B. Laich - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)
2. V. Kozlov - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)
3. J. Theodore - WAS (Saves: 19, Save Pct: 1.000)

The Washington Capitals (43-25-10-92, first in Southeast, third in East) are in southern Florida to take on the Panthers (34-25-10-78, third in Southeast).

The Caps enter play stinging from last night's 5-1 loss to the Atlanta Thrashers. All the negative symptoms that the Caps experienced during their four game home losing steak resurfaced in Dixie. Washington had a season-high 50 shots on goal, but could only get one behind Thrashers goalie Keri Lehtinen.

Alex Ovechkin sits at 49 goals for the season but had all 10 of his shots thwarted Monday night.

Jose Theodore, who was pulled midway through the second period Monday after allowing four goals on 19 shots, has been in net for all four games against Florida this season, going 2-2-0 with a 3.31 goals-against average against their division rival.

Coach Bruce Boudreau expects to have Mike Green and Sergei Fedorov back for tonight's matchup.

Florida is in ninth in the conference, one point behind Carolina for the final playoff spot-but only four points out of fifth place.

The two teams have split four games thus far this season. Florida won the most recent matchup, 6-2 at Verizon Center March 1.

The Panthers only have one player with more than 20 goals, David Booth (26-21-47, plus-12), but have nine players with ten or more goals.

Tomas Vokoun is 1-2-2 with a 3.11 GAA since March 5. He has lost his two starts against the Capitals this season and is just 1-5-0 with a 2.86 GAA in his last six games against D.C.