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Vokoun posts shutout to lead Panthers over Caps

Dec 10, 2010 - 7:10 AM Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Tomas Vokoun made 36 saves for his third shutout of the season, leading the Florida Panthers to a 3-0 win over Washington.

Vokoun earned his first shutout since back-to-back whitewashes in October and the Panthers won their third in a row behind goals from Michael Frolik, Steve Bernier and Mike Santorelli.

The Capitals dropped their fourth straight game on the heels of a four-game winning streak despite seeing eight power plays in the game. Semyon Varlamov yielded three goals on 32 shots.

"It wasn't a great game coming in and taking that many penalties, but I really think that we took a little bit of their will away when we killed them," said Florida head coach Peter DeBoer.

Vokoun stopped 18 shots in the first period and nine apiece in the last two, but Varlamov was also good in the early going, turning aside the first 19 shots he faced.

Indeed, it looked like the teams would play two scoreless periods until Frolik, with a group players battling for the puck in front of the Washington net, jammed the puck home to beat the buzzer at the end of the second.

The Panthers put the game away in the third, taking a 2-0 lead on Bernier's wrister 8:10 into the period and going ahead 3-0 on the power play near the end of the stanza.

Santorelli scored the final goal, corralling a loose puck on the left side of the net and slipping it in behind a sprawled-out Varlamov.

It was the only power play goal in 14 combined chances for the teams, including a pair of two-man advantages for the Capitals and one for Florida.

"We didn't play how we have to play (on the power play) and you can see the results," said Washington's Alex Ovechkin. "We didn't work hard."

Game Notes

The Panthers snapped a six-game losing streak against Washington...The Capitals' four-game losing streak is a season-worst...Stephen Weiss had two assists.