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 Center Claude Giroux and right winger Jakub Voracek each scored
two goals to lead Philadelphia to a 6-4 victory over the Washington
Capitals on Wednesday night.
Left winger Michael Raffl and right winger Steve Downie also scored
goals for the Flyers, who won for the seventh time in eight games to
take a two-point lead over the New York Rangers for third place in
the Metropolitan Division.
Centers Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich and right wingers Joel Ward
and Troy Brouwer scored goals for the Capitals, who were 7-2-1 in
their previous 10 games before losing a home-and-home series to the
Flyers.
The Flyers (33-24-6) rallied for a 5-4 overtime win at Washington
(29-24-10) on Sunday. Philadelphia jumped out to a 4-0 lead
Wednesday and held on after the Capitals rallied.
"For the first two periods, it was probably some of the best hockey
we played all season long, and going into the third period, we just
stopped moving our feet and stopped playing the way that we were
playing that gives us success," said Flyers goaltender Steve Mason,
who made 21 saves. "We were fortunate to come out of the game in
regulation with two points."
 The Capitals are one point behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the
final playoff spot in the East, but trail the Flyers by just four
points.
Hoping to make a strong playoff push, Washington made multiple deals
before Wednesday's trade deadline. The Capitals acquired left winger
Dustin Penner from the Anaheim Ducks, center Chris Brown and
defenseman Rostislav Klesla from the Phoenix Coyotes and goaltender
Jaroslav Halak from the Buffalo Sabres. Penner was the only new
player in uniform for the Capitals on Wednesday.
"Real disappointing. I don't know what to say on the start, just a
couple of mistakes that we made obviously and they gained some
momentum from it," Ward said. "We know they usually come out hard.
We just didn't match that intensity."
Giroux and Voracek scored 1:34 apart in the first period to give the
Flyers a 2-0 lead.
Philadelphia center Sean Couturier created a turnover with a strong
check on defenseman Jack Hillen. Giroux picked up the loose puck,
deked Ovechkin and beat goaltender Braden Holtby with a backhander
for his 22nd goal at 6:48.
Voracek scored his 17th goal at 8:22, just 13 seconds into a power
play. Voracek fired a wrist shot through a screen inside the post.
Giroux made it 3-0 at 5:26 of the second period after left winger
Scott Hartnell forced defenseman Mike Green to turn the puck over.
It went right to Giroux in front for an easy goal, his fourth in the
last two games.
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"We got the win, but at the end of the day, we've got to make sure
that when we've got a lead like that, we've got to be able to keep
it," Giroux said.
Defenseman Luke Schenn blasted a slap shot that was tipped by Raffl
past Hotlby for a 4-0 lead at 11:52 of the second. Right winger Adam
Hall was credited with the goal before it was changed after the
game.
Holtby went to the bench after stopping just 14 of 18 shots, and he
may not start for a while with Halak on his way.
"It's nice to have the same group of guys," Raffl said. "We've been
playing together for months now. We know each other really well, and
I think we have a good group of guys and we really can achieve
something here."
At 14:06 of the second, Ward scored a power-play goal that put the
Capitals on the board. Ovechkin got his NHL-leading 44th goal, also
on the power play, at 6:35 of the third period to get Washington
within 4-2.
"It's not how we're supposed to start the game," Ovechkin said. "We
just have to play better right away."
Brouwer ripped a one-timer past goaltender Steve Mason to cut it to
4-3 near at 9:25 of the third.
Sensing the game slipping away, Flyers coach Craig Berube called a
timeout. His team responded. Voracek took a pass from Hartnell and
snapped a shot by goaltender Philipp Grubauer to extend the lead to
5-3 at 11:51.
Laich got Washington's third power-play goal on a tip-in with six
minutes left to cut it to 5-4.
Downie put one into an empty net to seal the win in the final
minute, snapping a 27-game goal drought.
NOTES: Flyers C Claude Giroux had his 10th career multi-goal game.
... D Andrew MacDonald made his Flyers debut after being acquired
from the New York Islanders on Tuesday. ... Before the game, the
Flyers traded D Andrej Meszaros to the Boston Bruins for a 2014
third-round draft pick. ... The Capitals recalled G Philipp Grubauer
from Hershey of the American Hockey League to be the backup after
trading G Michal Neuvirth and D Rostislav Klesla to the Sabres for G
Jaroslav Halak. Grubauer wound up stopping 10 of the 11 shots he
faced. ... Flyers C Vincent Lecavalier and Capitals D Jack Erskine
received game misconduct penalties in the first period.
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