Nic Dowd had a goal and two assists for the Capitals (35-11-7), who have a 14-game home point streak (10-0-4), but had lost their past two games in overtime. Logan Thompson made 30 saves.
“We did a good job to beat that team,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “It’s a good test. It took everything we had, so proud of the guys. Good win.”
Sam Bennett had a goal and an assist for the Panthers (32-20-3), who had won three straight and were tied 2-2 after two periods. Sergei Bobrovsky made 20 saves.
“We had a couple good looks, and then they capitalized on their looks,” Bennett said of the third period. “I think we were pushing a little bit too hard for a goal and gave up a couple too many odd-mans and gave up too many good scoring chances and they capitalized.”
Andrew Mangiapane gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 14:08 of the first period when he received a pass in the left circle from Rasmus Sandin, spun and scored over Bobrovsky’s right shoulder.
Bennett, who will represent Canada in the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20, tied it 1-1 at 19:30. Jesper Boqvist intercepted a Sandin pass and fed in front to a wide-open Bennett, who scored on a backhander after Thompson stopped his initial shot.
Wilson gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead with a short-handed goal at 1:15 of the second period. Aliaksei Protas entered the zone 2-on-1 and slid the puck between Matthew Tkachuk’s skates to Wilson for the one-timer.
