Capitals vs Panthers live stream: Watch online free Friday 7:30 ET as Tim Thomas is more than likely not going to play between the pipes for Florida.

The 17-12-2 Capitals vs the 10-17-5 Panthers will be the second meeting between these two this season. In the first encounter, Washington escaped with two points via a shootout in early November. Watch the free live stream online as the Capitals look for their fourth straight and the Panthers, their second straight victory.

Washington has been scoring at will, scoring 4, 5 and 6 in the last three games. Alex Ovechkin scored four times in the victory Tuesday.

"He's a pure sniper," coach Adam Oates told ESPN.com. "The fourth goal, with the ice conditions at that time, that's an incredible shot. That's why he's a superstar."

Ovechkin, who won his third career MVP with a league-best 32 goals in the lockout-shortened 2013 season, has scored 26 times this season. He attributes some of that success to Backstrom, who assisted on all of Ovechkin's goals Tuesday while netting a goal of his own to tie his career high with five points, according to ESPN.com.

"He's a leader and one of our best players," Ovechkin said. "He probably deserves more attention, but it's all about (us) being on the (same) page."

Ovechkin believes that the pair, which has been together since Backstrom's rookie season of 2007-08, can be even better. Backstrom has assisted on Ovechkin's last five tallies, but the two hadn't combined for a goal since Nov. 17 prior to that stretch.

"We win a couple of games and then everyone thinks the chemistry is back and everything is OK," Ovechkin said. "We're working hard. We're trying to do what's best for the team and for our success. We've been together since his first year. I don't think any (two players) on this team have the same chemistry (as us)."

Tim Thomas most likely won't be in net for an undisclosed reason, as per he left practice out of no where, though the team hasn't revealed the cause.

Live action here or Here