LDN - Sports

Flyers clip Capitals in shootout

[December 22, 2016] PHILADELPHIA -- Playing against the Washington Capitals for the first time since getting pulled in last year's first-round playoff loss, Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Steve Mason turned aside 36 shots en route to a 3-2 shootout victory Wednesday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

"There's no motivation from last year, it's a new season," Mason said after stopping consecutive shootout attempts by Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom and Justin Williams. "The playoffs have nothing to do with it. It's a new year, new goal and it was nice to get the first one against them for sure."

Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds scored for the Flyers in the shootout and Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux netted goals in regulation. The Flyers snapped a modest 0-1-1 streak and pushed their record to 20-11-4.

They didn't hit the 20-win mark last season until Jan. 17.

"Every night it is so close," Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said. "The margins of separation between a win and a loss has been pretty tight. We have been playing pretty well. We have one left here before a short break, it is going to be a tough challenge going into New Jersey tomorrow night. We have to flip the page pretty quick here and get ourselves ready to go."

Andre Burakovsky and Lars Eller scored for the Capitals, whose loss was their second in a row following a six-game win streak. Washington fell to 19-8-4, a drop-off from its 23-6-2 record through 31 games last season.

Braden Holtby (36 saves) took the loss, falling to 14-7-3.

"We scored the first goal (of the shootout) and got a save, but we couldn't finish them off," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said, adding he wanted to see more from his top six forwards.

Alex Ovechkin is leading the Capitals with 14 goals but has just two in his last 12 games and was held without a shot until the final 3 seconds of regulation.

"They did a good job," Trotz said of the Flyers. "They kept him to the outside and got in his lanes and he couldn't find his range."

Trotz said he went with Williams as his fourth shooter in the shootout instead of Ovechkin because Williams began his career in Philadelphia and is a career 32 percent shooter in shootouts. Ovechkin is 30 percent in his career.

"We just wanted to throw them something a little bit different," Trotz said.

Giroux said he was impressed with the job Flyers defensemen Ivan Provorov and Radko Gudas did on Ovechkin.

"He's one of the big pieces on their team and he has probably the best wrist shot in the game, so good on us," Giroux said.

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Trotz tried lighting a fire under Burakovsky by scratching the 21-year-old winger from the lineup the previous three games due to a lack of offensive production. Burakovsky responded by scoring a goal on his second shot of the game.

With 1:36 remaining in the opening period, Burakovsky took a pass from defenseman Dmitry Orlov, walked into the slot and ripped a wrist shot past Mason's catching glove for his first goal since the Caps' season opener on Oct. 13.

The Flyers responded 4:25 into the second period when Raffl netted his seventh goal of the season. Promoted to a top line with Giroux and Jakub Voracek, Raffl hunted down an errant shot by Radko Gudas, swung around the side of the net a tucked a shot off Capitals defenseman John Carlson and behind Holtby. A video replay confirmed the puck rolled over the goal line before Holtby swatted it away.

The Capitals restored their one-goal lead midway through the second period when they received another goal from a slumping forward. Like Burakovsky, Eller entered the game with just two goals and hadn't scored in 18 games. He crashed the net to poke a John Carlson rebound past Mason for his first goal since Nov. 5.

"That line (Burakovsky, Eller and rookie Jakub Vrana) was really good for us," Trotz said. "It was great for both of them."

Again, the Flyers answered, this time on Giroux's 10th goal of the season with 41 seconds remaining in the second period. Holtby denied a rush by Provorov, but a poor clear by the Capitals gave Giroux plenty of time and space to snap a shot off the crossbar and behind Holtby for his first goal in six games.

NOTES: The Flyers entered the game leading the NHL in points by their defensemen with 88, topped by Mark Streit (16) and Shayne Gostisbehere (16). D Radko Gudas added an assist Wednesday. ... The Flyers close out their pre-Christmas schedule Thursday night when they visit the New Jersey Devils. They will begin their post-holiday schedule on the road, visiting St. Louis on Dec. 28, San Jose on Dec. 30 and Anaheim on Jan. 1. They return home on Jan. 4. ... The Capitals return home to face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night. Their first game back after the break will be Dec. 27, when they visit the Rangers.

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