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Sliding Caps hope to continue dominance of Panthers

Dec 9, 2010 - 4:11 PM (Sports Network) - Hoping to avoid a season-high fourth straight loss, the Capitals couldn't have picked a better opponent for tonight's showdown at the Verizon Center.

That is where Washington will play host to the Florida Panthers looking for a seventh straight victory over the club.

The Capitals are on their second three-game slide of the season and dropped Monday's 5-4 shootout test against Toronto in disappointing fashion, allowing three third-period goals to blow a 4-1 advantage.

Mathieu Perreault had two goals, both Alex Ovechkin and Mike Knuble scored and Michal Neuvirth made 24 saves for the Caps, who haven't lost four straight since Oct. 6-12 of last season.

"We quit playing in our zone," Capitals head coach Bruce Boudreau said. "I think they were mentally thinking they just wanted to play safe and we wanted to just get it out, but when you stop playing ... you've got to continue to play and play hard when you get a chance to go on the forecheck.

"You can't just allow a team to come into our zone all night long. And then when they were in our zone, our positioning by both defense and forwards was really bad."

Washington has dropped the first two games of a four-game homestand and are 12-2-2 at the Verizon Center this year.

The Capitals will try to end their slide without defenseman Jeff Schultz, who suffered a fractured thumb in the first period on Monday and is expected to miss 4-to-6 weeks of action.

He might not be missed in this game after the Capitals swept their six-game series with the Southeast Division-rival Panthers last year by a 33-15 margin. Washington has won seven of eight and 11 of the past 14 meetings, taking four of five and six of the last eight in the nation's capital.

Florida has won two straight after dropping five of six, including Tuesday's 4-3 overtime victory against Colorado. Stephen Weiss' second goal of the game came 43 seconds into the extra session on a rebound from a David Booth shot while getting hooked to the ice.

"It was a big goal for sure just for the club and personally. It's been a bit of a struggle so it feels good to get it," said Weiss, who scored for the first time since Nov. 20 and posted his second two-goal game of the season.

"I've scored some big ones -- I don't really want to say that's the biggest of all-time but certainly to this point of the season it's a big one."

Booth added a goal and an assist and Tomas Vokoun made 22 saves for his 10th win of the season and 250th of his career.

Bryan Allen (broken foot), Chris Higgins (infected right foot) and Cory Stillman (back spasms) are all questionable for tonight.