In Florida, Caps Remain Cold

SUNRISE, Fla., Dec. 1 -- Two things the Washington Capitals have been able to count on consistently -- Alex Ovechkin's big goals and Olie Kolzig's timely stops -- weren't there for them Thursday night.

Ovechkin, the rookie star, went without a goal for the sixth straight game and backup netminder Brent Johnson was inconsistent. The result was all too predictable: a 3-2 loss to the Florida Panthers before an announced 10,092 at BankAtlantic Center. The crowd was the smallest in the building's seven-year history.

The Capitals' season-long losing streak grew to five, all of the defeats coming by one goal. The Southeast Division rival Panthers, meantime, won for just the second time in 16 games.

"We have to finish," defenseman Bryan Muir said. "You have to put a team away when you're outplaying them like that. You can say we played strong, but we've grown enough that it's not just enough to be in a game like this. We need to focus on winning."

The Capitals' funk has mirrored Ovechkin's scoring slump. The team's leading scorer has been stuck on 15 goals since Nov. 17.

"We had lots of power plays, and lots of chances to score," Ovechkin said. "But [Panthers goalie Roberto] Luongo played well."

Luongo made 37 saves, including several key stops in the waning moments after Johnson had been pulled for an extra attacker. Johnson made 33 saves on a rare night off for Kolzig, who has been in net for seven of the Capitals' eight victories.

"It's disappointing," said Johnson, who fell to 1-5-0. "They got a power-play goal in the first and a goal in the second I would want back."

Washington trimmed its deficit to 3-2 on a goal by Andrew Cassels with 13 minutes 36 seconds remaining, but could not get a third goal on Luongo, who has faced the most shots in the league.

"You never go into a game expecting a cake walk," Capitals captain Jeff Halpern said. "I thought we played well enough to win. But again, the power play didn't come through in the first period on the 5-on-3. Then, they get that power play goal and we're playing catch-up."

The Capitals fell behind 1-0 in the opening period despite outshooting the Panthers 14-10. They squandered four power-play opportunities in the session, including a five-on-three advantage for 1:21. Washington's power play began the night ranked second to last (12 percent effectiveness) among the league's 30 teams.

Florida, meantime, made the most of its only power-play chance of the first period. Stephen Weiss set up in front of the Capitals' goal and redirected Joe Nieuwendyk's long wrist shot up and over Johnson's blocker at 12:26.

In the second period, Panthers center Nathan Horton scored on what looked to be a routine wrist shot that sneaked over Johnson's glove hand. Horton's goal gave Florida a 2-0 lead at 7:25.

The Capitals' power play finally connected (they had seven opportunities in the game) about midway through the middle frame when defenseman Bryan Muir's wrist shot from the point eluded a screened Luongo to make the score 2-1.

Florida appeared to put the game away early in the third on a goal by Olie Jokinen. His wrist shot from the blueline floated in on Johnson, touched the goalie's glove, then kissed off the crossbar, giving the Panthers their second power play goal and a 3-1 lead at 4:19.

But the Capitals weren't done yet. They continued to put pressure on Luongo, and it eventually paid off. Cassels flipped in a rebound to give Washington hope. But the equalizer never came.

Capitals Notes: Team officials are waiting for a U.S. District Court judge to rule on three key issues in their lawsuit against prospect Alexander Semin following Thursday's hearing in Washington. Among them: whether the court has jurisdiction and whether a preliminary injunction will be filed against Semin, a move that would essentially bar him from playing for any team other than the Capitals. Semin, a highly touted 21-year-old left wing, is under contract with Washington, but has ignored his obligations and played in his native Russia the past 14 months. . . . The game was originally scheduled for Oct. 29, but was postponed when Hurricane Wilma knocked out power at the arena.