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Mikael Samuelsson beats Michal Neuvirth from long distance

Washington Capitals v Pittsburgh Penguins

PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 22: Michal Neuvirth #30 of the Washington Capitals reacts after giving up a goal to James Neal #18 (not pictured) of the Pittsburgh Penguins during the game at Consol Energy Center on January 22, 2012 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Justin K. Aller

Well, at least Craig Anderson won’t feel lonely on blooper reels this week.

On a night when the Penguins-Maple Leafs and Rangers-Sabres games produced one regulation goal combined,* Michal Neuvirth’s rough goal stands out that much more. Much like Dennis Seidenberg, Mikael Samuelsson gets to pad his stats with this long-distance tally:

The Florida Panthers went on to beat the Washington Capitals 4-2 in a fairly important game, as this places the banged-up Rats one point ahead of wounded Washington for the Southeast Division lead. The regulation loss hurts the Caps even more because they’ve been knocked out of the East’s top eight for the time being.

Obviously that goal doesn’t tell the whole story - Neuvirth helped Washington stay in the game by making 34 out of 37 saves - but it did stake Florida to a valuable 1-0 lead. It also might be the kind of clip that people lean on if the Panthers win the division and the Capitals find themselves out of the playoffs altogether once April rolls around ...

* - More on those games later, but Toronto got revenge on Pittsburgh with a 1-0 win while Henrik Lundqvist’s shutout was better than Ryan Miller’s as New York earned a 1-0 shootout win against Buffalo.

Check out the full highlights below: