Coming All the Way Back

"First thing I said was if that doesn't sew up the Hart [Trophy], then nothing will," Boudreau said.

Ovechkin added: "We never give up, no matter what happen. It's an unbelievable feeling. I never stop believing."

After a shaky first few minutes, the Capitals settled down. Fleischmann's goal came at 7 minutes 19 seconds put them ahead 1-0. Fleischmann whiffed on his first attempt, throwing off the timing of Florida defenseman Branizlav Mezei. Fleischmann, though, chased down the loose puck, deked Craig Anderson and slipped it behind the goalie.

The Capitals, however, weren't able to build on that lead, despite enjoying two five-on-three power plays for a total of two minutes. Also, Huet had to be sharp on a two-on-one opportunity late in the period to ensure the Capitals took their one-goal lead into the first intermission.

The Capitals first-period failures with the man advantage came back to haunt them in early in the second as Kamil Kreps pulled the Panthers even at 1 with a power play goal at 6:47.

Florida continued to put pressure on the Capitals, but Fedorov restored his team's lead at 15:03, firing a slap shot from the top of the circles past Anderson's blocker. Fedorov was set up by superb passes from Mike Green and Semin, who finished with a game-high eight shots.

"He was unbelievable," Boudreau said of Fedorov. "He looked like he was 28. That goal he scored was just as a rocket. He looked as rejuvenated as anyone could be."

Semin clinched the win with a power-play goal at 2:21 of the third period. He teed up a pass from Nicklas Backstrom and fired it past Anderson to put the Capitals ahead 3-1 and set off a wild celebration on the ice and in the stands as everyone could breathe a sigh of relief.

"It was all about pushing through and believing in yourself," Boudreau said. "We had to win seven in a row just to get in. At some point you think they would get tired of pushing. But they didn't, they were awesome."

Capitals Notes: Defenseman Jeff Schultz left the game with an undisclosed injury early in the second period and did not return. The team declined to reveal the nature or extent of his injury. With his assist on Semin's third period power-play goal, his 55th of the season, Backstrom set the franchise's rookie assist mark, passing Ovechkin's 54 in 2005-06. . . . Right wing Chris Clark (groin tendon), center David Steckel (broken finger) and defensemen Shaone Morrisonn (upper body) and Brian Pothier (concussion) were out.