Reuters
Published 00:00 9 February 2012
Goaltender Vokoun plays a stellar role in win
Washington: Washington goaltender Tomas Vokoun haunted his former team Florida with a 42-save shutout as the Capitals reclaimed first place in the Southeast division with a 4-0 win over the Panthers on Tuesday.
Florida outshot the home team 42-24 but could not find a way past Vokoun, who held them scoreless for the second time this season after having played for the Panthers from 2007-2011 before being acquired by Washington in the off-season. Alexander Ovechkin scored twice as the Capitals netted two goals in the first two periods to get the upper hand against their division rivals.
"We definitely want to win our division and that is what we set our goal as," Vokoun told reporters. "It's not going to be easy. Every game is going to be tough."
Florida (24-17-11) had taken over the Southeast lead with a win over Washington (28-21-4) last week but have now fallen a point behind the Capitals.
The Panthers are trying to reach their first post-season since the 1999-2000 season. Washington has reassumed their dominant role as they have captured the last four division titles.
Mathieu Perreault got the home team off to a fast start with a goal 13 seconds into the game before Ovechkin padded the lead to 2-0 midway through the opening period.