Florida’s Jose Theodore made 26 saves in his first appearance since Jan. 20 after suffering a knee injury.

The Panthers’ quick-strike offense supported Theodore with two goals off faceoffs and four unanswered goals overall to erase a 1-0 deficit.

Frans Nielsen scored the Islanders’ goal on the team’s first shot at 3:35 of the first.

Fleischmann and Versteeg each finished with two points.

Strachan notched his first career goal in the first and Fleischmann, Versteeg and Skille scored three goals in a 14:16 span in the second period to turn a tie game into a 4-1 advantage heading into the final period.

The Panthers swept a set of back-to-back games for the first time in nine attempts this season after defeating the New Jersey Devils on the road Saturday.

Florida remained in sole possession of first place in the Southeast Division — and third place in the conference with 65 points.

New York lost an opportunity to pick up points for the sixth time in seven games and trails Toronto by eight points for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Making his fourth start in six days, Islanders goalie Evgeni Nabokov allowed three goals on six shots in the second and made just 11 saves on 15 shots total before being lifted for backup Al Montoya to start the third.

Fleischmann tipped in Versteeg’s pass from the left post for his 18th goal to break a 1-all tie 4:17 into the second.

Versteeg tied a career high with his 22nd goal on a right circle wrister on a power-play goal at 11:41.

Tomas Kopecky screened Nabokov as Versteeg’s shot beat him on the high glove-side.

The 36-year-old Nabokov entered the game having allowed only five goals on 135 shots in five games since the All-Star break.

But he allowed his fourth goal of the game with 1:27 left in the second on Skille’s goal off a draw.

New York came out hot when Nielsen converted PA Parenteau’s pass for a goal less than four minutes in.

But Strachan’s right-point slap shot off Marcel Goc’s faceoff win tied it at 14:57. Goc has three assists in his past two games.

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Sean Bergenheim, Kris Versteeg and Mikael Samuelsson scored for the Panthers, who have won four of six. Florida stretched its Southeast Division-lead over Washington to two points with just its second road win in 12 games.

Steve Bernier scored for the Devils and Martin Brodeur made 18 saves, but New Jersey has lost two straight for the first time since a three-game skid from Jan. 19-24.

Bernier and Bergenheim traded goals in the first period.

Bernier scored his first goal since Feb. 10, 2011, 1:39 in to give the Devils a quick lead. Dainius Zubrus forced a turnover by Keaton Ellerby below the right circle, and Zubrus’ pass to Alexei Ponikarovsky deflected in off Bernier in front.

New Jersey surged after the early goal, and the Devils had an 8-0 advantage in shots until Brodeur stopped Eric Gudbranson’s drive at 10:58 of the first. But while the Devils dominated, they couldn’t solve Clemmensen. The Panthers’ play improved as the first period progressed.

The Devils recorded only 15 shots in the final 40 minutes.

Bergenheim got the Panthers even at 15:08 with a power-play goal, redirecting Gudbranson’s shot past Brodeur.

Versteeg gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead 7:43 into the second when he ripped Stephen Weiss’ blocked shot over Brodeur from the slot. Versteeg’s goal was his 21st of the season, one shy of his career high set in the 2008-09 season when he was with Chicago.

Florida protected its one-goal lead in the third period by clogging the neutral zone and keeping the Devils’ shots from the perimeter.

Samuelsson added an empty-net goal to make it 3-1.

Florida was 1 for 3 on the power play and killed New Jersey’s only advantage.

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The Capitals, powered by two goals from captain Alex Ovechkin, easily defeated the Panthers 4-0.

The shutout victory by the Caps propelled them to first-place in the Southeast Division and knocked the Cats out of the playoff picture as of Wednesday.

The Caps rode former Panthers goalie Tomas Vokoun who stopped 42 shots in the game to preserve the shutout.

“We knew what was on the line tonight,” Capitals coach Dale Hunter said. “These are four-point games, playoff games, and we’re battling with Florida.”

Both the Capitals and Panthers are in a must-win situation when it comes to the Southeast Division.

Based on the current standings, whoever comes in second in the Southeast Division is likely on the outside looking in for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs starting in April.

It was the Panthers second straight ugly loss after the team was thumped over the weekend by the Tampa Bay Lightning, 6-3.

“We have to stay positive, and we have to up our level of play,” Florida defenseman Brian Campbell said. “Some nights we’re there. Other nights we’re not.”

While Vokoun shined for the Capitals, Florida’s goalie situation continued to deteriorate with starter Jose Theodore still out nursing an injury.

Scott Clemmensen has proved that he’s in way over his head this season as he’s given up nearly 10 goals in his last two games.

This was the fourth meeting of the two teams this season. The series is split at 2-2 with both teams winning all of the games on their home ice.

The teams meet again next week from the friendly confines of the Bank Atlantic Center.

Thanks to a strong goaltending performance by Tomas Vokoun, that was all the offense Washington needed in a 4-0 victory Tuesday night.

Mathieu Perreault scored shortly after the opening faceoff and Vokoun stopped 42 shots in his fourth shutout of the season, the second against Florida. Alex Ovechkin scored twice for the Capitals, who supplanted Florida atop the Southeast Division.

Jason Chimera contributed a goal and an assist for Washington, which has 60 points. Florida is at 59 with a game in hand.

“We knew what was on the line tonight,” Capitals coach Dale Hunter said. “These are four-point games, playoff games, and we’re battling with Florida.”

Winning the Southeast title is imperative to both teams, because the runner-up may not end up among the eight Eastern Conference teams that qualify for the playoffs.

With the victory, the Capitals jumped from ninth place to the third seed. And now Florida is ninth, on the outside looking in.

“We got beat by the better hockey team tonight,” Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. “We need to understand that, fess up, recognize that our game has to improve and move on.”

The Panthers were coming off a 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay. It’s only the second time this season they dropped two in a row in regulation; the other time was in October.

“We have to stay positive, and we have to up our level of play,” Florida defenseman Brian Campbell said. “Some nights we’re there. Other nights we’re not.”

Perreault set the tone in this showdown with his rapid-fire goal. Chimera was skating along the backboards when he sent a pass to Perreault that eluded two Panthers positioned in front of the net. Perreault then beat goalie Scott Clemmensen with a shot from the left side.

“You never like to get scored on early like that,” Florida forward Matt Bradley said. “Give them credit because they came out with a lot of jump.”

It was a quick score, but not even close to the fastest goal in Capitals history — 8 seconds, a mark shared by Alexander Semin and Gaetan Duchesne.

Ovechkin added a power-play goal at 9:21 of the first period, and the onslaught continued after the first intermission.

Chimera got a short-handed goal by tapping in an easy rebound at 1:01 of the second period after Clemmensen left the puck sitting in the crease.

“Anytime you give up a short-handed goal, the momentum changes,” Campbell said. “It’s unacceptable.”

Ovechkin made it 4-0 at 11:47, firing a high-rising wrist shot that whisked past Clemmensen just inside the left post. It was his 22nd goal of the season and his fifth two-goal game, the first since Dec. 31.

“I think everybody today was pretty good,” Ovechkin said. “We (had a) pretty good start, and after that Tomas played unbelievable today. He gave us a chance to win the game.”

Much earlier, Washington received a morale boost when center Brooks Laich suited up and joined the team on the ice. Laich, who was on crutches after hurting his left knee Sunday in a loss to Boston, showed no signs of the injury during his shifts against Florida.

Laich received limited playing time, but his presence in the lineup was instrumental for a team playing with plenty of emotion.

“He’s a warrior,” Hunter said. “You see a guy sucking it up and doing what he can for the team — he gave us everything he had.”

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Florida has been in first place in the southeast division for more than two months, but leads the Capitals by only one point heading into Tuesday’s matchup.

With just 31 games left before the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Panthers can either give themselves a three-point lead over Washington with a victory, or end up trailing the Capitals with a loss in regulation.

“It’s a big game for us,” coach Kevin Dineen told the Panthers’ official website. “We were disappointed with the outcome and our overall consistent effort in Tampa, so we’re looking at this as a very important game to really get us going for the stretch run.”

Florida’s start, 24-16-11, is the franchise’s best mark since going 29-15-4-3 in 1999-2000, which coincidentally was the last time the team made the playoffs, according to CBS4 news partner the Miami Herald.

Florida goalie Scott Clemmensen allowed a season-high five goals and was pulled in Saturday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, dropping him to 3-2-2 with a 2.66 goals-against average in his last seven starts. Former Capital Jose Theodore is nursing a knee injury.

A loss on Tuesday would have ramifications beyond just the southeast division. Currently, Florida is third in the Eastern Conference based on leading their division.

If they drop to second place in the southeast, they have so few points that it would knock them out of the playoffs.

In other words, for the Panthers to make the playoffs, their best bet is to capture the division.

Otherwise, they will have to do a lot of damage in the 13 games they have left against teams with more points than them and hope those teams also begin to lose.

History isn’t on the Panthers’ side heading into Washington. The Capitals are 6-1-0 against the Panthers in the last seven games in Washington, according to the Herald.

The Capitals beat the Panthers 3-0 in Washington on Oct. 18, as former Panther Tomas Vokoun made 20 saves.

Vokoun, who signed with the Capitals prior to this season, made 26 saves Sunday, and it’s unclear if he’ll be in net against his former team.

Alex Ovechkin missed the most recent meeting while serving the last of a three-game suspension. He has eight goals and 11 assists in his last 16 games against the Panthers.

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Martin St. Louis scored three times in his 900th NHL game, Steven Stamkos added his league-leading 34th goal and the Lightning beat the Panthers 6-3.

“Weird things happen sometimes in situations like that,” St. Louis said. “Of all the games I could have done that, it was my 900th game. It’s fun. On a weekend night, my kids are here. It’s pretty exciting.”

St. Louis got two goals during Tampa Bay’s four-goal second, helping the Lightning take a 5-3 lead entering the third. The right winger, who has six goals and 16 points during a nine-game point streak, completed the hat trick on an empty-netter during the final minute of play.

It was St. Louis’ fifth career hat trick and first since Oct. 26, 2006, against Carolina. His last multi-goal game came in a 5-2 win over Ottawa on March 29.

“I feel like I haven’t scored, like two goals in a game in a long time,” St. Louis said. “It’s nice to get on the scoreboard and help your team.”

Nate Thompson and Vincent Lecavalier also scored for the Lightning, who have won six of seven. Lecavalier added three assists.

Florida got goals from Tomas Fleischmann, Mikael Samuelsson and Sean Bergenheim. The Southeast Division-leading Panthers were coming off a 2-1 win over Winnipeg on Friday night.

Florida has a one-point lead over second-place Washington. The Lightning, fourth in the division, are just eight points back.

“It’s a hard league,” Samuelsson said. “You have to fight for every spot, for every inch there. I shouldn’t say it’s a like a playoff, but it’s getting close to it. And teams are playing like it. You have to fight for every shift.”

Stamkos scored on his own rebound to give Tampa Bay a 4-2 lead with 7:24 left in the second. The center has six goals and nine points in six games against Florida this season.
Stamkos passed up a scoring chance to set up St. Louis’ last goal.

“That’s just a tribute to the kind of people we have on the team,” Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher said. “They’re all unselfish and people who care about the group.”

Bergenheim pulled Florida to 5-3 with 46 seconds to go in the second.

Tampa Bay went up 2-1 when Lecavalier scored his 20th goal this season from the high slot at 1:42 of the second. The Lightning captain has reached the 20-goal plateau in 12 consecutive seasons.
St. Louis extended the Lightning advantage to 3-1 when he picked up a loose puck just outside the crease and wrapped a shot around goalie Scott Clemmensen 2:40 after Lecavalier’s goal. St. Louis also scored with 4:52 left in the second off a nifty pass from Lecavalier.

“We had a tough second period, to say the least,” Panthers coach Kevin Dineen said. “We got off to a tough start, and I think we were our own worst enemy. That was certainly the difference.”

Clemmensen was pulled late in the second after allowing five goals on 25 shots and was replaced by Brian Foster, who made one save over 5 minutes on his 25th birthday in his NHL debut. Clemmensen returned to start the third.

“It’s a really good birthday present, so I’m probably not going to forget this birthday,” Foster said.
Samuelsson cut Florida’s deficit to 3-2 on the rebound after Mathieu Garon made a strong stop on Bergenheim’s shot from the slot at 7:06 of the second.

Thompson put the Lightning ahead 1-0 during a 2-on-1 just 1:37 into the game. Florida tied it 1-all when Fleischmann scored from the right circle at 3:54 of the first off a backhand pass from the boards by Kris Versteeg.

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Kris Versteeg also scored a goal for Florida, while Scott Clemmensen stopped 20 shots.

Bryan Little scored for Winnipeg and Chris Mason made 28 saves.

Winnipeg lost for the ninth straight time when playing the second of consecutive games. The Jets are have been shut out twice and outscored 36-7 in those.

The Jets tied it at 1 on Little’s goal in the second. Little grabbed a loose puck and took a wrist shot from the left circle. The puck went between Clemmensen’s pads at 11:29.

Florida regained the lead about three minutes later. Marcel Goc passed the puck from behind the net to Bergenheim, who was waiting in front of the crease. His wrister got past Mason at 14:27.

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead on Versteeg’s power-play goal in the first period. Versteeg took a pass from Mikael Samuelsson at the left circle. His slap shot got between Mason’s right skate and the post at 15:46, for his team-leading 20th goal of the season. Versteeg now has six goals and two assists in the past three games against Winnipeg. Versteeg returned to the lineup after missing Wednesday’s game against the Capitals with the flu.

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Stephen Weiss and Shawn Matthias also scored for Florida, and Scott Clemmensen stopped 26 shots. Tomas Fleischmann had a pair of assists for the Panthers, who moved into first place in the Southeast Division — one point ahead of Washington.

Brooks Laich and John Carlson scored for the Capitals, and Michal Neuvirth had 35 saves.

Samuelsson’s second goal came during a power play and gave the Panthers a 2-1 lead. Samuelsson got the puck in the high slot and wristed it past Neuvirth at 4:57 of the third for his first multi-goal game since Feb. 12, 2011, at Vancouver.

Weiss scored at 9:52 of the third to give the Panthers a 3-1 lead. Weiss pushed the puck toward the net with his stick but Neuvirth blocked the shot. The puck went up in the air, then bounced off Weiss’s upper body and crossed the goal line just before Weiss fell into the net. The goal was initially disallowed, then awarded after a lengthy review.

Carlson’s goal came with 2:11 to go on a shot from the high slot that got past Clemmensen on the glove side to pull Washington to 3-2.

Matthias sealed it on an empty-netter with 52 seconds remaining.

The Capitals tied it at 1 in the second. Laich brought the puck out from behind the net to the left circle. His wrist shot went over Clemmensen’s left shoulder and into the net with 9:45 left in the period.

The Panthers took a 1-0 lead just 33 seconds into the second. Samuelsson took a wrist shot from outside the blue line that hit the right post and caromed into the net.

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Mikael Samuelsson scored the Panthers’ winning goal of the shootout, which used 14 skaters. Mike Santorelli also scored in regulation for Florida (22-15-10), which also ended a four-game skid.

Winnipeg (22-20-6) got two goals from Nik Antropov, Alexander Burmistrov added one, and Kyle Wellwood had two assists.

Scott Clemmensen stopped 41 shots for the win. Winnipeg’s Ondrej Pavelec made 23 saves.

O’Reilly scored 3:55 into overtime, as his shot trickled through the legs of Florida goalie Jose Theodore, helping the Avalanche rally for a 4-3 win over the Panthers on Wednesday night.

Paul Stastny tied it late in regulation, and Mueller scored twice — his first goals since April 2010. Mueller has been dealing with concussion symptoms the last two seasons, missing all of 2010-11 and a good portion of this season.

“It feels unbelievable,” Mueller said. “I wish I could explain it more how good it feels to get that one out of the way. Everyone has been so supportive through this whole process. What a night to cap it off.”

Indeed.

The Avalanche caught the Panthers on a rush late in overtime, with O’Reilly shooting a puck right at Theodore, who couldn’t corral it. Just like that, the Avs had an improbable win, especially after falling behind 3-1 early in the third period.

“A huge character win for us,” said O’Reilly, who leads the team in scoring but netted his first career regular-season overtime goal. “It shows that no matter what, we’re in each game.”

Florida had two breakaway chances in the extra period, but were turned away by Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

“It’s frustrating,” Florida defenseman Brian Campbell said. “We have to find a way to win that in overtime. I know we don’t want to be in that situation in the first place, but it would have been nice to get something going there.”

Stephen Weiss, Marcel Goc and Tomas Kopecky scored for the Panthers, who lost their seventh straight road game. They haven’t won in Denver since Jan. 2, 2003.

Kopecky’s goal 20 seconds into the third period gave the Panthers a 3-1 lead, but it wouldn’t last. Mueller scored his second of the game, and Stastny tied it with just over 3 minutes left when he tapped in his rebound.

The pivotal moment of the game might not have been on a goal but on a penalty-kill by the Avalanche. After Jay McClement was given four minutes for high sticking, the Panthers had a chance to potentially seal the game with a goal. But the Avs weathered the storm and kept it a one-goal game.

“Big kill for us,” Avalanche coach Joe Sacco said. “They really dug in. That was obviously a big part of the game.”

Weiss scored an unusual goal in the second period that stood up after a lengthy video review. As the center skated in, he was tripped and tumbled to the ice. While sliding along the surface next to the puck, Weiss ran into Giguere’s leg, pushing his pad out of the way, and opened the door for the puck to roll into the net.

At first, it appeared on replays that the puck might have hit Weiss’ glove and been pushed in. But referee David Banfield conferred with replay officials, and the goal was confirmed. It was Weiss’ first goal since Dec. 5, and it came in his 600th career game.

Mueller is starting to get his timing back after a lengthy layoff. This was his fourth game after sitting out because of the concussion. He’s also beginning to resemble his old scoring self again, gobbling up a rebound and beating Theodore with a wrist shot in the second period.

In the third, Mueller scored again — firing a slap shot off a pass from O’Reilly. To help reduce the possibility of another head injury, Mueller has been wearing bigger shoulder pads, a helmet that loops around his ear to provide more protection, and a tinted visor that cuts down the glare from the arena lights.

“I think I’m becoming the player I used to be,” Mueller said.

Goc put the Panthers on the board first when he redirected the puck past Giguere on the power play late in the first period. It was his fifth goal of the season.

Tomas Fleischmann was back in the building where he was a steady scoring threat for the Avalanche last season. But this place also is filled with harrowing memories.

Nearly a year to the day, Fleischmann experienced shortness of breath following a morning skate. Later that day, he was diagnosed with two blood clots, one in each lung. He was sidelined for the rest of the season, and then signed with Florida in the offseason. He has quickly fit in with the Panthers and has been a reliable goal scorer.

“I’m just happy for him, happy he’s healthy and happy he’s having a good year,” Sacco said.

Before the game, the Panthers said they will be without veteran defenseman Ed Jovanovski for perhaps two months after he underwent surgery to fix a broken hand. Jovanovski was injured during a fight in a game against the Boston Bruins on Monday.

The 35-year-old Jovanovski has two goals and six assists in 43 games this season