First Period
The Flyers dominated possession to open the game,
out-attempted the Caps overall by a 9-5 margin into the eighth minute. They scored on their tenth shot attempt when
Sean Couturier took a Jakub Voracek feed
as he was barreling to the Caps’ net.
Couturier split the Caps defense and got two whacks at the puck, the
second one finding the back of the net at the 7:18 mark.
Jakub Vrana tied the game just over two minutes later when
he helped dig out a loose puck along the left wing wall, then went to the
net. He got there just in time as Evgeny
Kuznetsov was taking a feed from John Carlson, and as he was crossing in front,
backhanded a pass to Vrana for a tap-in at the 9:25 mark.
It might have been a good thing had the Caps made it to the
first intermission tied, but the Flyers upset that thinking on an odd play late
in the period. With the Caps on a power
play, Scott Laughton blocked an attempted pass by John Carlson just outside the
Caps’ blue line. While Laughton got
behind Carlson to chase the loose puck sliding into the Caps’ end, goalie
Philipp Grubauer came out to play it. He
tried to sweep it to the side boards, but Laughton was there to gather it up,
curl behind Grubauer, and dump the puck into the back of the net to make it
2-1, 18:58 into the period.
Second Period
The Flyers ended the competitive portion of the contest in
the first 11 minutes, Wayne Simmonds and Claude Giroux potting goals to give
the Flyers a 4-1 lead. Nicklas Backstrom
got the Caps back within a pair just 13 seconds after Giroux’ goal, but Valeri
Filppula slammed the door on any comeback with a goal with 2:55 left in the
period to give the Flyers a 5-2 edge at the second intermission.
Third Period
It was a case of the Flyers adding some decorative roses on
the cake in the third period, scoring three goals in a seven-minute span
mid-way through the period to send the Flyer faithful into the night in a happy
mood.
Other stuff…
-- Philipp Grubauer allowed eight goals on 37 shots and
became the first Capitals goaltender to allow eight goals in a game since Olaf
Kolzig allowed eight in an 8-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 25,
2006.
-- That 2006 blowout feature defensemen Ivan Majesky, Bryan
Muir, Nolan Yonkman, Brendan Witt, Shaone Morrisonn, and Mathieu Biron. This Caps defense was about as effective,
although it was hardly their fault. The
forwards as a group played an indifferent game in terms of defensive support. As Barry Trotz put it in the postgame, “Giroux’
line ate up Kuznetsov’s line.” That
would be the Evgeny Kuznetsov – Alex Ovechkin – Jakub Vrana line. It might be noted that Ovechkin played just
3:29 in the third period, Kuznetsov played just 5:27, and Vrana was demoted to
the third line by that time and played 5:00.
-- Alex Ovechkin was minus-4, and that equals the total
number of times he was that minus-y in the 2016-2017 season when he had a
minus-4 in the Caps’ 8-7 overtime loss to Pittsburgh on January 16th.
-- Another game, another 30-plus shot performance for the
opponent. The Flyers had 37 shots making
it five times in six games the Caps allowed an opponent more than 30
shots. For themselves, the Caps had 23
shots, the third time in six games they had fewer than 25 shots.
-- Tom Wilson…two games, 24 minutes of ice time, 15 minutes
in penalties… one shot on goal.
-- Madison Bowey made his debut and finished the game with a
blank score sheet. Except for that
minus-2.
-- Half of the skaters did not have a shot on goal. Five others had one shot. Of the 23 shots on goal, 18 came from four
players: Ovechkin (6), Dmitry Orlov (4), Jakub Vrana (4), and Devante
Smith-Pelly (4).
-- Brett Connolly led the team with five credited hits. No shots on goal. Caps might be better off if those numbers are
reversed. John Carlson had four minutes
in penalties. No shots on goal. Caps would certainly be better off if those
numbers were reversed.
-- Fourteen of 18 skaters finished in minus territory for
the Caps.
-- The Caps allowed the Flyers only two power play
opportunities, the first time this season the Caps allowed fewer than four
power play opportunities in a game.
In the end…
This game was captured in a lyric describing the Grinch of
Christmas lore…
“The three words that best describe you are as follows, and
I quote,
‘Stink, stank, stunk’!”
Or, as Barry Trotz put it… “we were absolutely stupid with
the puck.” It was as if the Caps were
working the line at Geno’s Steaks at lunch hour…”here’s a puck, here’s another
puck, here’s one for you, you want a puck?”
But it is one game.
After the Caps gave up eight goals to the Penguins in an 8-7 overtime
loss last season (not coincidentally, the second of a back-to-back set of
games, played on the road, and their third game in four nights, like this one),
they went 26-10-2 to end the season. Not
that this team is as good. It’s
not. But the point is that giving up
eight goals or losing, 1-0, is one loss.
Move on. Do better.
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