The Washington Capitals doubled up on the defending champion Florida Panthers, securing a 6-3 regulation win on home ice. Washington was led to the victory primarily by offensive contributions from fourth-line forwards Andrew Mangiapane and Nic Dowd.
“Mangiapane, I thought arguably his best game he’s had as a Capital,” Carbery said. “Thought he was all over the ice, noticed his speed. Not just the goal and the shot, but he creates the Dowd goal, strong on the walls, making smart decisions with the puck, being able to advance, and that’s what you have to do against a team so good and so aggressive.
The Capitals got the game’s first goal off Mangiapane’s stick with 5:52 left in the first period. After Rasmus Sandin fed him the puck down low, the 28-year-old winger curled around for a better shooting angle and sniped over Sergei Bobrovsky’s right shoulder.
The goal was Mangiapane’s first in nine games and his 11th of the season. He now has 19 points (11g, 8a) in 52 games this year.
“It was a good play by everyone involved there on my goal,” Mangiapane said postgame. “Nice pass by Sandy and Dowder to kind of get it going. I just wanted to get a puck to the net, and happy and fortunate it went in.”
Mangiapane got back on the scoresheet to help put the Capitals up 4-2 with 6:10 off the clock in the third period. With Washington operating up a man due to a delayed penalty call, Mangiapane entered Florida’s zone down the left wing and expertly fed Dowd for a net-front goal.
“Dowder’s goal, I think we did a good job of kind of waiting and setting it all up,” Mangiapane said. “I just happened to be out there, saw some ice, and wanted to take it. And Dowder made a great play driving to the net and had a nice finish on it, top shelf. So it was a great play by him.”
After starting the season higher up in the Capitals’ lineup, Mangiapane has regularly been deployed in a defensive role with Dowd and Brandon Duhaime since the calendar flipped to 2025. In their 137:22 of joint five-on-five ice time, the trio has only taken nine offensive-zone faceoffs, compared to 48 in the neutral zone and 65 in the defensive zone.
“[Dowd and Duhaime] bring a lot of energy,” Mangiapane said. “They’re really smart, good defensively. I’m just trying to get my game going. They’re good forechecking pucks, reading plays, and a lot of communication on that line. I think that’s why we’re having success is it all starts kind of with the communication.”
Mangiapane was also awarded the Capitals’ Player of the Game award. Logan Thompson chose Mangiapane to wear the gaudy gold chain signifying the honor, saying, “That’s a big statement game, but I thought this guy was buzzing all night.”
