The Washington Capitals power play provided a much-needed
jolt of offense, even if it came from an unexpected source, leading the Caps to
a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night in Philadelphia.
It was Jason Chimera putting the “power” in the Caps’ power
play, scoring a pair of man-advantage goals in the second period. The first
came with the Flyers holding a 2-1 lead mid-way through the period. It was the result of some deft hand-eye work by Chimera and Evgeny Kuznetsov. From
just inside the Flyers’ blue line, Justin Williams threw the puck across the
ice to Kuznetsov entering the offensive zone. Kuznetsov managed to get his
stick on an uncooperative puck, one timing the feed into a bloop pass that
floated over the sticks of a pair of Flyers defenders to Chimera heading to the
net. Chimera whacked the puck as it was falling out of the air past goalie
Steve Mason, and the game was tied.
Williams got a goal of his own less than two minutes later
when he looped around a clot of players at the top of the Flyer crease and
beast Nick Schultz to a loose puck, snapping it past Mason’s left pad to make
it 3-2.
Then it was Chimera again on a power play. Late in the
second period, Chimera took a drop pass from Tom Wilson in the right wing
circle, sent the puck back to Matt Niskanen at the right point, then headed for
the slot. Niskanen fired, and Chimera got enough of the puck sailing through to
redirect it past Mason and make the score 4-2 heading into the second
intermission.
Nicklas Backstrom ended the scoring in the third period, but
it was hard work by Tom Wilson that started the scoring play. Chris VendeVelde
played the puck behind his own net to his partner, Evgeny Medvedev. The puck
got caught for a moment in Medvedev’s skates, and it was enough for Wilson to
pounce. He checked Medvedev off the puck and fed it in front to Marcus
Johansson skating down the middle. Johansson slid the puck over to Backstrom at
the inside edge of the right wing circle, and Backstrom one-timed the puck past
Mason for the final 5-2 margin.
Other stuff…
-- T.J. Oshie snapped a five-game streak without a goal when
he scored in the first period. He was the beneficiary of another instance of
Evgeny Kuznetsov circling around the opponent’s net and back passing to the
trailing player. This time, Kuznetsov sent a pass from his forehand back
through the legs of defenseman Michael Del Zotto to Oshie filling in the space
Kuznetsov left.
-- Kuznetsov had a pair of assists, his first two assist
game since recording a pair against Edmonton on October 23rd. He has four
assists in his last four games.
-- The record will have to wait another game. In his pursuit
of the record for most goals scored by a Russian-born player, Alex Ovechkin was
held to a pair of shots on goal and just three shot attempts.
-- Every Capital but Oshie was credited with at least one
hit. Jay Beagle was credited with six.
-- Beagle also won 12 of 16 faceoffs and had an assist. If
there was still a hard hat award, he might have earned it. By the way, just
what is that post-game award the Caps are using this season?
-- Tom Wilson recorded two assists, his first two-helper
game since December 13, 2014 against Tampa Bay, and first career two-assist
game on the road.
-- Jason Chimera added an assist to his two power play
goals, making it his first three-point game since April 10, 2014, at Carolina.
-- The two power play goals for the Caps was the first time
they scored more than one in a contest since their 7-4 win at Edmonton on
October 23rd.
-- Braden Holtby improved to 4-0-0, 1.98, .923 in games
following a loss. In baseball parlance,
that’s being a “stopper.” In this case,
he is his own stopper, avoiding personal losing streaks.
-- For the second time in three games, Alex Ovechkin
appeared to have set the Russian-born goal scorer record. For the second time in three games, the goal
was challenged. For the second time in
three games, the challenge was based on something Justin Williams did (in last
night’s case, an offside infraction).
For the second time in three games, the challenge was upheld. Maybe the third time will be the charm.
In the end…
There are few more pleasurable outcomes in a Caps game than
beating the Flyers in Philadelphia. Not
that this Flyers team is good; they’re not (now 1-6-2 in their last nine
games). And Caps fans might take a
little extra pleasure in having the Caps kick a bitter rival when they are down, especially after the Flyers had their way with the Caps last season. But this was just another instance of
shrugging off a frustrating loss a couple of nights earlier and taking care of
business. Through 14 games, the Caps do
not have the look of the Ferrari that they were in 2009-2010 when they lit up
the scoreboard regularly. This club is
more of an earth-mover, grinding up and disposing of whatever is in their path,
ruthlessly and relentlessly. Frankly, when they play like this, it
is a pleasure to watch.
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