Well, at least they didn't let a two-goal lead get away.
The Philadelphia Flyers almost did, though, holding off a third period
comeback by the Washington Capitals and skating off with a 6-4 win at Wells Fargo
Center in Philadelphia.
The Capitals let the Flyers skate around as if it was a practice drill
for the first 30 minutes or so, allowing the Flyers to post a 4-0 lead by the
11:52 mark of the second period. Three
Flyers had goals in the onslaught – two by Claude Giroux and one each by Jakub
Voracek and Michael Raffl – and eight different Flyers had points.
Washington finally got on the board 14 minutes into the second period
when Joel Ward redirected a drive by Mike Green from the right wing faceoff dot
on a power play. The puck changed
direction, diving to goalie Steve Mason’s left, bouncing, and then settling in
the back of the net.
The Caps made it interesting in the third period when Alex Ovechkin
scored his 44th goal of the season on another power play. It was standard issue for the Caps, a pass
that Nicklas Backstrom threaded through the crease to Ovechkin at the left wing
faceoff dot where the winger one-timed it into the net before Mason could scramble
across.
Troy Brouwer got the Caps to within a goal less than three minutes
later when he was left all alone in front of Mason, three Flyers getting caught
on the same side of the ice, at or past the faceoff dot attending to Jack Hillen
(of all people), who found Brouwer for the snap shot and score to make it 4-3.
The Caps would not find that game-tying goal, though. Voracek got his second of the game barely two
minutes after Brouwer’s goal to restore the Flyers’ two-goal lead. Brooks Laich got the Caps back within a goal
barely two minutes after that when he redirected another Mike Green drive past
Mason to give the Caps their third power play goal of the game.
That would do it for the Caps’ scoring.
Steve Downie added an empty net goal with 52 seconds left to give the
Flyers their final 6-4 margin to sweep the home-and-home series and open up a
four-point lead on the Caps in the Metropolitan Division standings.
Other stuff…
-- Nicklas Backstrom’s two assists, the second coming on assist on Troy
Brouwer’s goal, were his 49th and 50th helpers of the
season. He is the third player to hit
the 50-mark in assists this season, trailing only Joe Thornton (51) and Sidney
Crosby (54). It is the fourth time in
his seven-year career that he reached the 50-assist mark, the first time he did
it since he had 68 assists in 2009-2010.
-- For Ovechkin, the goal made it six in his last eight games. Four of those goals, including last night’s,
have been on the power play. He is on a
pace for 24 power play goals this season that, should he reach that mark, would
be a career high.
-- Mike Green had another multi-assist night. His two assists give him five in his last two
games and nine in his last seven contests.
He is now tied for 12th among defensemen in assists despite
having played in only 55 of 63 games for the Caps.
-- Tom Wilson recorded 17 minutes in penalties last night. It put him at the top of the rookie list in
that statistic, passing Tampa Bay’s Radko Gudas (122 minutes) with 133 minutes
earned. Here is a way of looking at how
big that number is. Wilson’s 133 minutes
exceeds the Capitals rookie total of penalty minutes earned over the last three
seasons, combined, including the penalty minutes earned by other rookies this
season (90).
-- The three power play goals on four chances make it 7-for-18 (38.9
percent) over the Caps’ last four games.
-- The power play goal allowed makes it four straight games in which
the Caps have allowed at least one. They
are 12-for-17 (70.6 percent) killing penalties over that span.
-- Claude Giroux single-handedly manhandled the Caps in the faceoff
circle. He was 19-for-25 (76.0
percent). The only Cap to win at least
50 percent of the draws he took against Giroux was Jay Beagle (2-for-3). Giroux was perfect against Backstrom
(4-for-4), Brouwer (2-for-2), and Ward (2-for-2).
-- Mike Green was on ice for four goals against. He did it with three different partners: Jack
Hillen, John Carlson (twice), and Karl Alzner.
-- Speaking of Green, has there been a changing of the guard on the
Caps’ power play? It has been underway
for a while now, but John Carlson had 5:23 in power play ice time, Green had
1:51.
-- Four goals on 18 shots in 31:52.
That was Braden Holtby’s night in goal.
It is the third time in four games and the fifth time in eight games in
which Holtby has allowed at least four goals.
Oddly enough, he is 2-1-1 in those five games (he had a no-decision last
night).
-- Conversely, in the “life is not fair” department, Philipp Grubauer
stopped ten of 11 shots, but he gets the loss for allowing the Flyers’ fifth
goal.
In the end…
March is going about as planned.
And that is not a good thing. In
the Caps’ 14 game death march that started in Boston on Saturday, the Caps have
now gone: win, blown lead for overtime loss, almost run out of the building regulation
loss. They are going in the wrong direction,
to say the least. It doesn’t get
better. They get a rematch in Boston
tonight, then a home-and-home back-to-back against Pittsburgh after they face
the Martin Erat-fueled Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday.
Avert your eyes.
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