Fleischman rallies Capitals past Panthers 7-4

Tomas Fleischmann scored twice during a five-goal third period, and the short-handed Washington Capitals beat the Florida Panthers 7-4 Saturday night for a sweep of their home-and-home series.

Washington played a third straight game without two-time NHL MVP Alex Ovechkin, who has an upper body injury. The Capitals were also without injured defensemen Mike Green and Jeff Schultz, both of whom were hurt Friday night during a 4-1 victory in Florida.

But the Capitals prevailed anyway. Getting 23 saves from goaltender Jose Theodore and goals 40 seconds apart from Mathieu Perreault and Quintin Laing, Washington defeated the Panthers for the second time in two nights.

In this one, the Capitals trailed 3-2 before Perreault scored his first NHL goal with 17:39 to go. Laing then scored his second of the season, and Fleischmann extended his point-scoring streak to a career-high five games with a goal off an excellent pass from Nicklas Backstrom.

Mike Knuble's second goal of the game with 8:54 remaining made it 6-4, and Fleischmann scored again with 6:22 left. Fleischmann has five goals and two assists in six games since being sidelined with a blood clot in his leg.

The seven goals were a season high for the Capitals.

Cory Stillman scored twice for the Panthers, who have lost two straight after winning three in a row. Goalie Scott Clemmensen absorbed his first loss with Florida after starting off 2-0-0.

The Panthers took their first lead at 16:03 of the second period when Kenndal McArdle sent a backhand pass from the backboards to Michal Repik, who beat Theodore with a wrist shot in the slot to make it 3-2.

That capped a three-goal period for Florida - on only 12 shots.

Washington went up 1-0 in the first period when Knuble scored from the right side of the crease after getting the puck from Brendan Morrison, who weaved behind the net with a pass from Brooks Laich.

Early in the second period, Stillman fired a shot that Theodore tipped with his glove before the puck bounced off the left post. Seconds later, however, Michael Frolik jammed in the rebound of a shot by Bryan McCabe to make it 1-1.

Laich put the Capitals back in front with a power-play goal at 6:17, but 19-year-old rookie Dmitry Kulikov answered for the Panthers with his first career goal midway through the period.

Notes: Washington has scored first in 14 of 17 games, including each of the last six, and has outscored the opposition 20-6 in the opening 20 minutes. ... Frolik had two goals in Florida's first three games, then went 11 straight games without one before his second-period tally. ... The Capitals are 2-1 without Ovechkin this season and 3-4 in the seven games he's missed since joining the team in 2005.