• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Gelinas leads Panthers past Capitals in overtime

Mar 31, 2007 - 4:22 AM SUNRISE, Florida (Ticker) -- When the Florida Panthers needed a clutch performance to stay in the Eastern Conference playoff race, they turned to a grizzled veteran.

Martin Gelinas scored the tying goal midway through the second period and netted the winner 2:01 into overtime, giving the Panthers a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals, who have lost five straight and 14 of their last 16.

Gregory Campbell also scored and Stephen Weiss added two assists for Florida (34-30-14), which moved within four points of Montreal (40-32-6) for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. The Canadiens lost to the Ottawa Senators on Friday.

"The win is important, but the key for us is to win the rest our games," Panthers coach Jacques Martin said. "We don't control the other teams, but we have a huge game on Sunday against Carolina."

"We're still kind of in it," Florida center Jozef Stumpel added. "We still have four games left. It's just about us now."

After Capitals defenseman Steve Eminger was called for holding at 1:42 of overtime, Weiss rifled a shot from the right faceoff dot that deflected off Gelinas' foot and past goaltender Brent Johnson to give the Panthers their fifth straight win in the season series between the teams.

"I'd be lying if I told you I saw the puck," Gelinas said. "It was a great shot by Weiss. Sometimes when you put the puck on the net, you get something special."

"I didn't really see why we got a holding penalty for what Eminger did in overtime," Johnson said. "It happened at an inopportune time."

Gelinas evened the game in similar fashion at 9:54 of the second, when captain Olli Jokinen's blast also caromed into the net off the 36-year-old's skate during another power-play opportunity.

"The first one got tipped by my blade and got deflected into the net, and the second one just kind of hit my skate and went in," Gelinas said. "I never saw the scores. I must have been playing hockey."

The Capitals have allowed nine goals in 23 shorthanded situations during their skid.

"Our penalty kill has let us down, and that has been the story here the last few games," Washington coach Glen Hanlon said.

After Jakub Klepis gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 6:43 of the first period, Campbell drew Florida even with 5:59 to go in the session, when he raced down the left wing and fired a shot from the faceoff circle that found its way between the left arm and body of Johnson.

Capitals captain Chris Clark restored the lead for his team at 2:18 of the second with his 30th goal, marking the first time in his career he has reached the plateau. The 30-year-old combined for 30 tallies over the previous two seasons.

Ed Belfour stopped 30 shots for Florida, which has won three in a row.

Johnson made 32 saves for the Capitals, who have dropped eight straight road games and 21 of their last 23 away from home.