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 But Braden Holtby never broke.
The Washington Capitals goalie stopped all 26 shots the Philadelphia
Flyers threw his way, including 11 in the third period, and the
Capitals escaped Wells Fargo Center with a 1-0 win after finally
getting a puck past Michal Neuvirth.
Washington won the series four games to two and moves on to the
second round, where the Pittsburgh Penguins await.
After losing Game 5, the pressure was back on the Capitals, the
league's best team in the regular season. They have a recent history
of playoff failure, having not reached the conference final despite
being a top-three seed three times since 2007-08.
"We've come a long way from last year," second-year coach Barry
Trotz said. "When I first stepped behind the bench, I felt there was
a little bit of nervousness in tight games. I think we've come
full-circle where we're comfortable being uncomfortable."
 The Capitals, who outshot the Flyers 44-11 in Friday's Game 5,
outshot the Flyers 29-26 in Game 6.
Holtby was at his best in the third period. The 26-year-old goalie
-- and likely Vezina Trophy winner -- stopped chances from Jake
Voracek and Wayne Simmonds midway through the period and stood tall
when the Flyers pulled Neuvirth for an extra attacker with 1:38 to
go.
"We knew they were going to have a good push," Trotz said. "When you
get goaltending like that, you've got a chance to win every night."
The Capitals finally solved Neuvirth 8:59 into the second period.
Alex Ovechkin made a strong play to keep the puck in the offensive
zone. The Capitals captain moved the puck to the slot to Marcus
Johansson as Nicklas Backstrom camped out and readied for a
one-timer on the right wing. Johansson wasted no time and fed
Backstrom for a 1-0 Washington lead.
"Nick made a pretty perfect shot and we knew it was going to have to
take a perfect shot to beat (Neuvirth)," Holtby said. "That was the
goal we needed."
The goal broke a shutout streak of 106:21 for Neuvirth, who had
stopped 93 of 94 shots prior to that after being inserted into the
lineup for Steve Mason after Game 3.
"We just were calm and knew that if we put pressure (on) and play
simple and play our way, we're going to get one or two," Ovechkin
said. "We made a play and (Backstrom) scored a huge one. It kind of
took the pressure off our shoulders."
Prior to the Capitals' goal, the Flyers had a great chance to get on
the board first. After Backstrom was whistled for a double-minor
high-sticking penalty, Matt Niskanen was immediately sent to the box
for hooking Simmonds off the faceoff.
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The Flyers, who had already killed a Capitals 5-on-3 at the end of
the first period and into the beginning of the second, had two full
minutes of a 5-on-3 advantage, but their dormant offense failed to
capitalize.
As the second half of Backstrom's minor was being killed, Ryan White
was called for holding the stick of Niskanen, who had been out of
the box for 30 seconds.
The momentum had shifted, and Washington pounced on the opportunity.
"It's one of those things that we pride ourselves on as a
penalty-killing unit, to turn momentum in those opportunities,"
Holtby said.
"From our standpoint, obviously that's one point where we could've
pushed the momentum our way," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said.
The Flyers went 1-for-21 in the series on the power play.
"They pressured us at every point," said the Flyers' Simmonds. "It
was unfortunate we didn't get that going."
The Flyers scored just six goals in the six-game series, the fewest
the Capitals have ever allowed in a best-of-seven series.
NOTES: The loss in Game 5 marked the first time all season
Washington lost back-to-back games in regulation. ... Capitals F
Jason Chimera was not subject to a disciplinary hearing from the NHL
Department of Player Safety for his boarding penalty against Flyers
RW Jake Voracek in the third period Friday night. ... The Flyers
forced a Game 6 after being down 3-0 for the second time in
franchise history. The first was in 2010, when they came all the way
back from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Boston Bruins. ... Philadelphia
entered Sunday having killed off five straight Washington power
plays after the Capitals went 8-for-17 with the man advantage in the
first three games. They killed five more Sunday.
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