|
 However, the Washington Capitals weathered the early storm,
dominated the special teams battle yet again, got great goaltending
from Braden Holtby and beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1, putting a
3-0 stranglehold on the Eastern Conference first-round playoff
matchup.
"It's not over yet," said captain Alexander Ovechkin, whose
three-point night pushed him ahead of Dale Hunter for the most
playoff points (73) in Capitals franchise history. "We have to
forget about it and move forward."
It is the first time the Capitals ever held a 3-0 lead in a
best-of-seven playoff series, and they can thank their special
teams.
Washington, the league's best team, got five goals on the man
advantage, bumping their series total up to 8-for-17 on the power
play. Meanwhile, with the help of Holtby, who made 31 saves, the
Caps held the Flyers scoreless on five power plays. Philadelphia is
now 0-for-13 with the man advantage.
"The power play has lots of confidence," Washington coach Barry
Trotz said. "And they (the Flyers) give us lots of practice."
The Capitals led 2-1 after two periods after Ovechkin beat Steve
Mason with a wrist shot from the right circle 8:50 into the middle
frame.
The Caps put the game away in the third.
Evgeny Kuznetsov took advantage of a generous bounce off a Justin
Williams clearing attempt to put the Capitals up 3-1 at 1:58 of the
third period just before a slashing penalty to Brayden Schenn was
coming to an end. The puck was being wrapped around the boards and
squirted right in front of Mason, allowing Kuznetsov to score in
tight.
"It's the first time it's happened to us in a long time," Flyers
coach Dave Hakstol said. "It took the wind out of our sails. We just
weren't able to recover from that."
John Carlson, who had two assists, then beat Mason with a slap shot
on the power play with 12:23 to play, pushing the lead to 4-1.
Flyers forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was issued a five-minute
major penalty and a game misconduct for hitting Dmitry Orlov from
behind with 7:43 left. A melee ensued, and it ended with misconducts
to both sides and Flyers fans throwing onto the ice bracelets that
were handed out before the game.
Ovechkin scored on the ensuing power play, upping the lead to 5-1.
Fans threw more bracelets onto the ice after the goal, and the
Flyers were given a two-minute delay-of-game penalty.
[to top of second column] |
"Whatever, I love Philly fans," said winger Ryan White, who received
a 10-minute misconduct in the scrum and earlier knocked Washington
defenseman Brooks Orpik from the game with a second-period hit
against the boards. "I'd have done it, too."
His teammate, Wayne Simmonds, didn't share the same sentiment.
"I know they're upset in that situation," he said. "But that can't
happen."
Jay Beagle got in on the fun, adding the fourth power-play goal of
the period. By that point, much of the crowd had left and there
weren't many bracelets left to throw.
"Obviously we pulled the game away and they weren't interested in
playing anymore," Trotz said. "I just thought it wasn't good for the
game. Plain and simple. I don't think it displays our game very
well."
The Flyers came out attacking from the opening faceoff after an
emotional tribute honoring their late chairman, Ed Snider.
The Wells Fargo Center crowd was electric, and the Flyers responded
by scoring 57 seconds into the game. A point shot by Flyers
defenseman Brandon Manning through traffic ended up on the stick of
Michael Raffl, who beat Holtby to give the Flyers an early 1-0 lead.
However, Simmonds took the energy out of the building 4:28 into the
period by taking a holding minor that put the Flyers' penalty kill
to work. Washington's power play stayed hot, scoring 15 seconds into
the man-advantage when Marcus Johansson redirected a shot past
Mason, who finished with 21 saves, to even the score at 1-1.
"We stayed to our gameplan and script," Trotz said. "We took their
best punch."
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
