Alexander Ovechkin scored his first goal of the playoffs to help the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series with a 6-1 victory over the Florida Panthers at Capital One Arena.

Ilya Samsonov made 29 saves for his first career playoff win. He was getting the start after relieving Vitek Vanacek in Game 2.

"I am ready all the time", he said. "Sometimes you start playoffs, sometimes another goalie, but you need to get ready for every game. I understand if you want to win [the Stanley Cup], you need to win 16 games."

Ovechkin and Marcus Johansson each had a goal and an assist for Washington, and Nicklas Backstrom and Anthony Mantha each had two assists.

"I think the boys did a good job from the drop of the puck all the way through", T.J. Oshie said. "The score might have been 6-1, but we didn't score our first goal for a while and we had to grind it out for a little while."

Jonathan Huberdeau scored Florida's only goal of the game and Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for the President's Trophy winners.

"So far, the story written right now is they've out-competed us, out-willed [us], pretty much in every puck battle, every area", Panthers head coach Andrew Brunette explained. "Something we're going to have to figure out here."

The Panthers are scoreless on nine power-play chances in the series so far.

"Make some adjustments and obviously talk about it because 0 for 9 is unacceptable", Huberdeau assessed. "In the playoffs, you need these goals. It's important. We had some chances today and we didn't capitalize."

Story of the game

Huberdeau put Florida in front when he beat Samsonov far side with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle on a rush.

With 34 seconds left in the first period, Oshie tied the game as the Capitals were on the power play, re-directing Ovechkin's shot from the right point.

Samsonov saved from Aleksander Barkov with his pad and Johansson followed with the goal that put Washington on top for good. After Mantha's shot was blocked by Ben Chairot, he backhanded the loose puck over Bobrovsky.

"[Samsonov] makes a big save, and then we go the other way and get one. It makes a big difference", Johansson said. "You're up 2-1 or you're down 2-1. 'Sammy' was unbelievable for us tonight."

The Capitals made it 3-1 when Bobrovsky made a save on a shot by Backstrom, but Johansson took the rebound and passed it to Trevor van Riemsdyk, who scored on a wrist shot from the left circle.

With 9:35 left in the third period, Ovechkin scored on the power play, taking a pass from Conor Sheary and firing past Bobrovsky on a one-timer from the left circle.

It was 5-1 when John Carlson shot into the empty Florida net from his own goal line and Garnet Hathaway capped off the scoring with 42 seconds to play.

"To me, frustration's taken over for some reason", Brunette said. "When you get frustrated, it usually means you're not working hard enough. Our compete has not been what it has been all year. It could be nerves, but we have to find a way."