A TWO-Point Night: Washington Capitals -- Game 24: Capitals 3 - Flyers 1

The Washington Capitals concluded their five-game road trip with a visit to Philadelphia on Sunday evening to face the Flyers.  The Caps went into the last game of the trip with a 3-1-0 record in their first four games, while the Flyers were returning home after a five-game road trip of their own over which they went 3-2-0.  The Caps spotted the Flyers a goal, and then they came back with three unanswered strikes to take away a 3-1 win.

First Period

The teams looked lethargic in the first half of the period, but Philadelphia gave their limited-seating fans something to cheer when Joel Farabee got the game’s first goal.  The Flyers took advantage of a weak attempt at a poke check of the puck by Dmitry Orlov at the offensive blue line to get a two-on-one break.  Farabee carried the puck into the Caps’ end and dialed his own number, snapping a shot between goalie Ilya Samsonov’s pads, and it was 1-0, 11:04 into the period.

Washington went short a man 12:40 into the period when Conor Sheary was called for hooking.  Washington killed the penalty, allowing the Flyers two shots on goal.  The Caps got their first man advantage at the 16:00 minute mark when Travis Konecny was whistled for goaltender interference. The Caps were shut out on their power play, Alex Ovechkin recording both shots on goal.

That would be how the teams went to their respective locker rooms after 20 minutes, the Flayers leading, 1-0.

-- Philadelphia out-shot the Caps, 14-7, after opening up a 12-2 edge to start the game.  They out-attempt the Caps, 19-13.

-- The Caps had as many credited hits (seven) as shots on goal. Seven different Caps had hits on their score sheet.

-- John Carlson led the Caps with 8:07 in ice time.  No other Capital had as much as seven minutes.

Second Period

The teams came out for the second period going back and forth with nothing to show for it.  Philadelphia got the first man advantage of the period when Zdeno Chara was called for tripping at 7:56.  The Flyer power play lasted all of five seconds before James van Riemsdyk went to his penalty box for tripping at the 8:01 mark, putting the teams at 4-on-4.

The 4-on-4 lasted 1:22 when John Carlson was ticketed for delay-of-game/puck over glass at 9:23. putting the Flyers on a 4-on-3 power play.  All the penalties were killed, and the teams returned to full and even strength.

Washington tied the game 15:11 into the period.  Alex Ovechkin knotted things up on a fine play by T.J. Oshie.  Circling at the top of the offensive zone, Oshie faked a drop pass to Dmitry Orlov standing just inside the blue line.  He continued curling into the right wing circle, whipping a pass through the middle to Ovechkin who buried the shot as goalie Carter Hart was trying to slide across.

Washington took its first lead of the game in the last minute as Dmitry Orlov took a John Carlson feed and snapped a shot that Hart overplayed, allowing the puck to trickle over his stick and between his pads with 15.8 seconds left in the period to make it 2-1, Caps.  That would be how the period ended.

-- Washington out-shot the Flyers, 13-8, and out-attempted them, 29-15.

-- Three Caps had three shots on goal through 40 minutes – Alex Ovechkin, Zdeno Chara, and Carl Hagelin.

-- Every Capital had at least one shot attempt through 40 minutes; 14 had shots on goal.

-- Dmitry Orlov led the team with three credited hits.

Third Period

And then, it happened.  Time will record it as happening at the 4:15 mark of the third period, in his 109^th game as a Capital, but Nick Jensen finally scored his first goal as a Capital, taking a feed from Nicklas Backstrom as he was entering the offensive zone, walking in and snapping a shot from close range past Hart’s blocker to make it 3-1, Caps.  It would be the first and last goal of the period as the Caps left Philly with a 3-1 win.

Other stuff…

-- Alex Ovechkin’s second period goal was his 714^th career goal, tying Babe Ruth’s career total in home runs.  It left him three behind Phil Esposito for sixth-place all-time in NHL history.

-- Nick Jensen’s goal was his first as a Capital, breaking a streak of 108 games as a Cap without one and a personal streak of 165 games without one, his last goal coming as part of a two-goal effort in a 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 11, 2018.

-- Ovechkin’s second period goal was his 363^rd goal scored on the road in his career, breaking a tie with Steve Yzerman for most goals scored on the road in NHL history.  Only Wayne Gretzky has more (402).

-- Philadelphia outshot the Caps, 37-27, and they out-attempted Washington, 57-54.

-- Dmitry Orlov’s goal was the game-winner, his second goal of the season and his first game-winner.

-- The 37 shots faced by Ilya Samsonov in goal is the first time in five appearances this season that he faced more than 30 shots; it is the fourth-highest shot total he has faced in his career to date, third-highest in regulation.

-- Every Capital had at least one shot on goal except Garnet Hathaway and Nic Dowd.

-- The Caps had almost as many shorthanded shots on goal on Flyer powerplays (two) as they had shots on goal on their own power plays, although they had only one power play.

-- The win left the Caps 4-1-0 in their last five visits to Philadelphia.

-- Washington had one power play chance.  They are now 18-2-2 in their last 22 games when getting one or no power play chances.

In the end…

Come from behind, on the road, against a bitter rival, with fans in the stands for the first time this season (albeit with limited seating). That’s about as good as it gets.  It also allowed the Caps to close within two points of the East Division-leading Islanders with a game in hand on the New Yorkers.  And now, the Caps return home for a Tuesday date with the New Jersey Devils before heading out on the road once more on a three-game trip, the first two of which will be in Philadelphia for a rematch.  It does not get easier.