Capitals hold off Panthers 4-3 behind Dubois's two-point night

Washington came back from two goals down and beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 at Capital One Arena on Tuesday, moving to 9-6-0 on the season. It was not a clean start, but it ended the right way.

The Capitals actually opened the scoring. Rookie defenseman Jack St. Ivany snapped home his first career goal in the first period, unassisted. That lead did not last long.

Brady Tkachuk took over. He scored twice in the first period on snap shots, with his brother Matthew picking up assists on both. By the end of the first, it was 3-1 Panthers and Florida looked in control.

Washington chipped away. Alex Tuch tied it back to 3-2 with a snap shot of his own early in the second, unassisted. Then Aliaksei Protas got the Capitals level at 3-3, finishing off a feed from Pierre-Luc Dubois and Ryan Leonard. That goal was Protas's second of the year.

The third period was quiet until it mattered. Dubois took a return pass from Protas and wristed home what turned out to be the winner, his second goal of the season. Florida pushed back and Sam Bennett deflected one in with Matthew Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart getting the helpers, but it was too late. Washington held on.

Dubois finished with a goal and an assist, the only Capital to record two points on the night. Matthew Tkachuk led all skaters with three points on three assists, and Brady Tkachuk's two goals were the story of the first period. But Florida's offensive burst up front was not enough to close the game out.

Washington sits at 18 points. Florida drops to 20 points with a 9-6-2 record after the loss.

Dubois's goal came off a Protas setup, the same pairing that connected in the second period with their roles reversed.