The teams were tied 1-1 at the end of regulation. After neither team scored during overtime, the game entered a shootout, with each team sending a player to take a shot.
Shootout coming up from Sunrise! #WSHvsFLA
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 17, 2014 ]/>It took 40 shots and 20 rounds for the winner to be decided. Panthers center Nick Bjugstad ended the game by getting the puck past goalie Braden Holtby.
The previous shootout record was 15 rounds, when the New York Rangers beat Washington in 2005.
Tensions built as the rounds passed. The Panthers were down to their final shot in the fourth shootout round, after Washington’s Alex Ovechkin scored, but Jussi Jokinen countered with a goal of his own. Dave Bolland, Derek MacKenzie, Sean Bergenheim and Dylan Olsen also countered Capitals goals to keep the Panthers alive.
This is how we feel right about now. #WSHvsFLA pic.twitter.com/oEONIXLnU9
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) December 17, 2014 ]/>Hockey fans such as Anthony Weiner were drawn in by the shootout.
A 20 round shootout in Florida!
— Anthony Weiner (@anthonyweiner) December 17, 2014 ]/>In the 20th round, it was Ovechkin’s chance again, but Florida goalie Roberto Luongo made the save, and then it was Bjugstad’s turn to end things, once and for all.
Don't expect NHL shootout box scores to go 40 lines deep! If you want to see the details- http://t.co/1PC2qXsyR8 pic.twitter.com/9JMyIlO0DQ
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 17, 2014 ]/>Personnel on both teams expressed amusement in the shootout, which lasted 17 minutes, 43 seconds.
"At first you're [thinking], just get the shootout victory, but once it got to 15, 16, 17; actually it was quite fun," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "You just sort of lived in the moment and hope that you got the two points. Unfortunately, we didn't."
But not everyone enjoyed the extended action.
"It definitely wasn't fun to be a part of it," Holtby said. "Being on the end that I had to make a save numerous times when the game was on the line and I didn't; that's not a fun spot to be in."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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