The Philadelphia Flyers just keep winning as they took down the Washington Capitals for the second time in four days by a score of 3-1.
Winners of 7 of their last 8, 8 of their last 11, and completing the home and home sweep, the Flyers look like world-breakers compared to where they were a month and a half ago. Scott Laughton opened the scoring with a power play marker before Alexander Ovechkin tied it before the first period ended. The Flyers then scored 2 goals in 49 seconds thanks to James van Riemsdyk and Wade Allison, and that was all she wrote for the goals in this one as Carter Hart did the rest to finish off the victory and earn his 13th win of the season.
Looking to sweep the home and home and trying to even the season series with 2 wins apiece, the Philadelphia Flyers entered Capital One Arena with an unchanged lineup for the 4th consecutive game and looking to win for the 7th time in 8 attempts. The Washington Capitals welcomed back Anthony Mantha into the lineup after he was a healthy scratch in their last 2 games. With Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson returning from the injured list, the Capitals had to make some tough decisions as Mantha had only scored 1 goal in his previous 12 games. Some might’ve expected John Tortorella to give Samuel Ersson another look tonight, but he went back with Carter Hart as the Capitals also returned with Darcy Kuemper.
FIRST PERIOD
The Capitals received the first power play of the game after Owen Tippett was called for a hooking minor after he got his stick underneath the arms of Trevor van Riemsdyk, who was breaking out from behind his own net at the 3:16 mark. With 7 seconds left on the man advantage, the Capitals recorded their first shot which was a one-timer in the slot from Tom Wilson that was gloved down by Carter Hart. 3 minutes later at the 6 and a half minute mark, Anthony Mantha was set up with a perfect saucer pass from Nic Dowd, as he broke in all alone on Hart who was able to blocker his snap-shot aside.
The pace to start tonight’s game didn’t come close to matching the intensity from Wednesday’s matchup, so much so that the Flyers looked flat-footed and outmatched. Fortunately Zack MacEwen was able to draw a penalty with 6:55 remaining in the period after Lars Eller was called for a tripping minor – much to the chagrin of the Capitals’ broadcasting crew. 11 seconds into the man advantage, the Flyers struck gold after Scott Laughton deflected a Tony DeAngelo point shot for his 11th of the season, his 5th power play marker, and his 5th goal in his last 8 games. It’s how the Flyers have been scoring their power play goals: keeping it simple, using their quarterback, and looking for deflections.
Like clockwork, Alexander Ovechkin tied the game up with 2:04 remaining in the period after he converted on a Flyers turnover. Trevor van Riemsdyk’s initial point shot was stopped, Hart let out a rebound but it seemed like the Flyers survived, however Morgan Frost tried deflecting the puck down the middle of the ice but it was knocked down by the Ovechkin. His first shot was blocked by Ristolainen but he then converted on the rebound for his 30th of the season, 810th for his career, and 400th career home goal.
On the next shift out, Dmitry Orlov cranked a shot off the crossbar with the Flyers looking shaky to end the period.
Both teams headed to their respective dressing rooms tied at 1, Capitals held a 8-5 shot advantage, and the Flyers went the final 6:44 without recording a shot – dating back to Laughton’s goal.
SECOND PERIOD
4:51 into the second period the Flyers retook the lead after James van Riemsdyk had a wide open net to shoot at for his 7th of the season. Nick Seeler make a great play in the neutral zone, dumped the puck in deep with Owen Tippett making a run for it. Kuemper grabbed it and tried rimming it around the boards but Frost corralled it, and he tipped it forward to Tippett who made the pass with two Capitals convening in on him.
It might’ve been the easiest goal in the career of van Riemsdyk as he had a yawning cage with both defenders and Kuemper focusing on Tippett.
The Flyers then doubled their lead 49 seconds later after Wade Allison’s shot in the slot found its way through a maze of bodies with Kuemper down and out. After an offensive zone faceoff win, Kevin Hayes tried making a move on Kuemper before jamming a puck from behind the net. He was stopped, grabbed the rebound, went around the net before setting up Allison in the slot with Kuemper floundering and a couple of black jerseys trying to block the attempt. The puck travelled over the sticks of Laughton and T.J. Oshie, and Wade Allison was in the perfect place at the perfect time for his 6th goal of the season and 3rd in his last 5 games.
With 10:15 remaining in the middle frame, James van Riemsdyk was called for a tripping minor but the Flyers kept them at bay again with one real dangerous opportunity coming off the stick of Tom Wilson again. The Capitals took the momentum away from the Flyers who looked rather dangerous up until that penalty was called. They were zipping it around the offensive zone at even strength but the shot blocking of the Flyers came to the forefront if Hart wasn’t tasked to make a save. With pressure mounting and 2:27 remaining in the period, Scott Laughton was called for a slashing minor with Tom Wilson inching closer to another scoring chance. The Flyers survived the penalty kill and took a 3-1 lead into the third period with the Capitals still leading on the shot clock, 21-15.
THIRD PERIOD
The Capitals started the third period with gumption as they were coming in wave after wave tying to claw back into this game. They had a 7-1 shot advantage in the first 5 and a half minutes as the Flyers were trying to park the bus and collapse in front of their goaltender with blocked shots. With 12:30 left in regulation, Alexander Ovechkin had 3 shots, 2 of which came right in the crease as he was trying to jam home the loose rebound, but Carter Hart stood his ground to keep the score at 3-1.
The Capitals were relentless with a 35-20 shot advantage with less than 10 minutes remaining in the period but the Flyers started buckling down defensively, started to keep them to the outside, and even though they weren’t recording shots, they were dumping the puck in deep and cycling whenever in the offensive zone. With 5:25 left on the clock, the Flyers went back on the power play at a very critical juncture of the game, with Marcus Johansson getting the gate for a tripping minor. Not much came out of it with the Flyers playing super cautious but the silver lining is they killed 2 minutes off the clock.
As the Capitals pulled Kuemper for an extra attacker, Wilson was called for a tripping minor as Joel Farabee was heading towards the empty net with 2:15 to go. Similar to their previous power play attempt, the Flyers remained cautious with a 2 goal lead and okay with the fact that the clock was ticking away. The Capitals were as aggressive as ever, trying to find a way into the offensive zone to get Kuemper back to the bench. Chance after chance was thwarted by Carter Hart as he finished the game with 39 saves – 19 of which came in the third period – as the Flyers won 3-1.
UP NEXT
The Flyers head to Boston on Monday to face the league-leading Bruins looking for their sixth consecutive road victory.
