First Period
The Caps owned the territorial advantage early, and it paid off in the
seventh minute. Keeping the Flyers
pinned in their own end, Nic Dowd circled out of the right wing corner with the
puck and fed John Carlson at the top of the zone for an open look at the Flyer
net. Carlson let fly with a shot that
was deadened in front of goalie Carter Hart, but Brendan Leipsic was standing
strong at the top of the crease to collect the loose puck, spin, and tuck it
around Hart before the defense could close on him. The Caps took the first lead 6:13 into the
period.
The Caps were awarded the first power play of the night when former Cap
Matt Niskanen was sent off for holding T.J. Oshie 9:23 into the period. The Flyers has a golden chance to tie the
game when the puck slid past a Cap and through the neutral zone. If did not have enough pace for goalie Braden
Holtby to skate up and sent it out of danger, and the Flyers had a potential
2-on-none. But Nicklas Backstrom got
back in time to foil a cross-ice pass, and the Caps escaped.
The middle third of the period was dominated by Hart, who seemed
single-handedly to keep the Flyers close, denying Richard Panik and Leipsic on
excellent scoring chances. He bought
enough time for the Flyers to get their first power play of the night with a
chance to tie when Jakub Vrana went off for slashing at the 15:26 mark. The Flyers managed a lone shot on goal as the
Caps killed off the penalty.
Washington got its second power play opportunity with less than a
minute left in the period, Travis Sanheim going off for hooking at 19:02. The Flyers killed the first 58 seconds of the
penalty as the period ended with the Caps up, 1-0.
-- The Caps had a 16-5 edge in shots on goal and a 27-16 advantage in
shot attempts.
-- Richard Panik led the Caps with four shots on goal; Brendan Leipsic
had three.
-- The Flyers were not credited with a single takeaway in the period.
Second Period
The Caps’ power play failed to convert on the last 62 seconds of the
advantage carrying over into the second period, and they Jakub Vrana had the
ill fortune of having a shot hit the inside of the post behind Hart and
rebounding out, the Flyers still trailing by a goal.
The Flyers got their second power play of the contest 5:46 into the
period when Panik was shown to the box for high-sticking. The home team recorded one shot on goal in a
power play that came up empty.
The Caps got the next man advantage chance 10:47 into the period when
James van Riemsdyk skated to the penalty box to serve sentence for
tripping. The Caps failed to convert on
their chance and promptly gave one to the Flyers when Vrana took his second
slashing call of the evening 13:01 into the period. Philly finished the power play
unsuccessfully, and the teams played on.
Neither team would solve the other’s goaltender over the remainder of
the period, and the second frame ended as did the first, the Caps leading 1-0.
-- The Flyers tilted the ice toward the Caps’ end in the period with a
17-13 advantage in shot attempts and a 12-6 edge in shots on goal.
-- Richard Panik led the Caps with five shots on goal. No other Capital had as many shot attempts,
save for Radko Gudas (that is not a misprint), who had five (one shot, two
attempts blocked, two misses).
-- Jonas Siegenthaler had an odd line on the score sheet… not a single
mark under any category in 11:03 of ice time.
Perhaps stranger still, he led the team in shorthanded ice time (3:46).
Third Period
The teams extended their mutual scoring frustration into the third
period, six minutes passing before the Flyers were put on their fourth power
play of the evening, Nic Dowd going off on a tripping call. The Flyers finally converted when Jakub
Voracek cut inside of Radko Gudas and slid a pass under Jonas Siegenthaler to
Claude Giroux, who redirected the feed under Holtby’s pad to tie the game, 1-1,
6:38 into the period.
The goalies took over from there, ramping up their respective games
from what was already a high level in this game. They kept their teams in it until the end of
regulation, which ended in the 1-1 tie.
Overtime
Back and forth, up and down, side to side… no goals.
The Gimmick
Oshie goal and Kuznetsov goal sandwiched around a Giroux goal… Caps
win, 2-1.
Other stuff…
-- The Caps extended their points streak to 13 games.
-- This was the Caps’ ninth extra time game in 20 games played to
date. Last season, they did not play in
their ninth extra time game until Game 32.
-- Alex Ovechkin skated one shift in overtime… it lasted 3:08.
-- The Caps won their ninth road game in 11 tries (9-1-1). Last season they did not get their ninth road
win until their 15th road contest (9-5-1).
-- This was Washington’s ninth extra time game this season (5-4), tying
Florida and St. Louis for most extra time games so far this season.
-- The Capitals had a 36-31 edge in shots on goal for the game, a 63-58
advantage in shot attempts.
-- Michal Kempny had five blocked shots to lead the Caps in that
category.
-- Radko Gudas and Alex Ovechkin led the team with five credited hits
apiece.
-- Richard Panik led the Caps with six shots on goal.
-- Braden Holtby is on a roll.
In his last nine appearances he is 8-0-1, 2.51, .925.
In the end…
The Caps started strong, faded, and absent the sparkling play of Braden
Holtby in goal might have let this game get away to a team they clearly had on
their heels in the first ten minutes.
But, two points are two points.
No one remembers in March how you got them in November. But with the Islanders keeping pace with the
Caps (12-0-1 in their last 13 games, including a win over Toronto tonight) and
holding three games in hand, the Caps will need to raise their game as the
schedule turns to a pair of Atlantic Division foes – Montreal and Boston –
later in the week.
