Panthers blank powerless Caps

Bruce Boudreau spared no one, not even Alex Ovechkin, after the Washington Capitals settled into their longest losing streak in more than a year.

Tomas Vokoun stopped 36 shots in his third shutout of the season, and the visiting Florida Panthers ended a six-game losing streak against the Capitals with a 3-0 victory last night.

Washington went 0-for-8 on the power play and lost its fourth straight - the team's longest skid since Oct. 6-12, 2009.

"If your best players aren't your best players, you're not going to have success," Boudreau said. "You have to get production out of your best players, and it's not happening for us right now."

In the first period, the Capitals were denied on all five power-play opportunities, including a two-man advantage that lasted for nearly two minutes.

After that, Washington made it easy for Vokoun to complete his 41st career shutout.

"You could see at the end of the first period, we started to try to do things as individuals instead of collectively," Boudreau said. "When that happens, it's tough."

It was the third time in 11 games the Capitals were blanked. A year ago, Washington led the league in goals and wins.

"Alex [Ovechkin] has two goals in 11 games, [Alexander] Semin hasn't scored in seven or eight games. Mike Green hasn't gotten a goal in I don't know how many games," Boudreau lamented. "Same thing with Nick Backstrom; he scored in the St. Louis game which was five games ago, but that was it. You can go farther down with Brooks Laich and Mike Knuble."

Ovechkin couldn't deny Boudreau's assertion. "It feels pretty bad," he said. "We had, I think, 20 minutes of power play and we didn't play how we have to play. We played so casual, and you can see the results."

Much of the credit goes to Vokoun, who repeatedly frustrated the Capitals during the pivotal first period.

"Thankfully we survived that first period with hard work and a little luck," Vokoun said. "It gave us momentum. After that, I think we played pretty well."

Michael Frolik, Steve Bernier and Mike Santorelli scored for the Panthers, who have won a season-high three straight.

"That means we can beat anybody in this league," Frolik said. "I think that's important for our confidence."

In other games:

* At St. Louis, Jaroslav Halak made 27 saves, and the Blues broke out of a deep power-play slump with a season-high three man-advantage goals in a 4-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blues entered the game in an 0-for-22 drought.

* At Buffalo, Paul Gaustad had two goals and an assist, Thomas Vanek scored twice, and Ryan Miller made 26 saves to help lead the Sabres to a 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.

* At Boston, Milan Lucic scored two goals and Tuukka Rask made 33 saves to lift the Bruins to a 5-2 victory over the Islanders.

* At Glendale, Ariz., Andrew Brunette scored his second goal on rare power-play conversion and the Minnesota Wild ended a five-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. Brunette's redirect midway through the third was the Wild's second power-play goal in 32 chances.

* At Ottawa, Michael Sauer scored his first NHL goal on a power play with 5:19 left to break a tie, and the Rangers went on to beat the Senators, 5-3.