The Caps followed the lead of winger Jason Chimera’s Gordie Howe hat trick, and fought back to win in a shootout last night. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Capitals 5, Panthers 4 (SO): It’s been a goalfest of late for the Caps — in their last five games, they’ve averaged 5.2 goals per game. Luckily for them, their offense didn’t fall off against Florida, as they needed to fight back from a 4-1 deficit to earn a win last night, their first successful comeback from three goals down this season. Brian Pothier, Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom scored unanswered goals, while Tomas Fleischmann added the dagger to win the shootout. While the offense was hardly problematic, the same can’t be said of the goaltending — at least until Jose Theodore saved the day after replacing Michal Neuvirth. Theodore made three saves in the shootout. Coach Bruce Boudreau really must be scratching his head about what to do: Theodore has been wildly inconsistent; Neuvirth is coming off consecutive games in which he allowed 4 goals on 15 shots; and Seymon Varlamov’s seemingly interminable lower-body injury seems to be getting more nagging by the day. At five goals a game, at least Boudreau’s got the infantry to cover that significant weakness — but not for much longer.

Hawks 94, Wizards 82: Let’s put it on record: we really like Antawn Jamison. It’s such a shame that a player who’s really made a great turnaround this year is stuck with the bum luck of being on this team, this season. Jamison’s line was very impressive — 25 points and 19 rebounds — and he led the Wizards from 22 down before halftime to make it a one possession game early in the final quarter. But it wasn’t enough to overcome Joe Johnson and Jamal Crawford, and Atlanta handed Washington it’s third loss in four days. Jamison’s impressive individual performance aside, the team had nothing to brag about. The Hawks dominated the Wizards both inside and on the run, outscoring Washington 50-22 in the paint and 21-3 on the fast break; the Wizards also only shot 35.8% from the field, and turned over the ball twice as often. Oh right, and Earl Boykins was a -20, even though he only played nine minutes, which you would have had a hard time convincing me was even possible before tonight’s game. Ladies and gentlemen, your Washington Wizards!