Tag Archives: philadelphia flyers

capitals hockey, Sports Fix
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Flyers Flatten Caps, 5-1


Photo courtesy of bridgetds
Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov
courtesy of bridgetds

The Caps carried their resurgent power play and a two-game winning streak into last night’s game against Conference-leading Philadelphia Flyers. But they came undone through a combination of Philadelphia muscle and poor goaltending. A series of soft shots and deflections got past starting goalie Tomas Vokoun as the Caps fell to the Flyers 5-1.

In the first period, the Caps came out looking like a different team than a month ago. With a disciplined approach they took the action to the Flyers, maintaining the puck in the offensive zone for most of the period with strong physical play. The aggressiveness paid off when the Caps drew two power play chances. But the Caps failed to shoot the puck on the man advantage and were unable to score on Flyers’ netminder Ilya Bryzgalov. The Caps lost the momentum, and tide turned.

The Flyers, meanwhile, shot the puck at every opportunity. Scott Hartnell put Philadelphia ahead 1-0 when he beat Tomas Vokoun between the legs on a clear shot from the top of the faceoff circle after 16 minutes. “I don’t think we had that kind of energy and emotion we had before,” said captain Alex Ovechkin of the first goal. Continue reading →

capitals hockey
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Caps Dump Flyers, Look Ahead to Playoffs as Ovechkin Rests

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Mike Knuble scored his 20th goal of the season against the Flyers.
courtesy of ‘bridgetds’

Boy it’s fun to win in Philadelphia.

In an entertaining battle of the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Capitals outlasted the Philadelphia Flyers last night to win 5-4 in a shootout in Philadelphia and clinch a spot in the playoffs. In their first game this season without scoring leader Alex Ovechkin, the Caps took advantage of their early chances to jump out to a 3-0 lead after just 22 minutes.

When Philadelphia changed goalies, the momentum swung the other way as the Flyers out-hustled and out-muscled the Caps to score four unanswered goals. “Our biggest problem in the second period was turning the puck over,” said coach Bruce Boudreau. “The first period, we didn’t have any turnovers. We got it out, we got it deep. In the second and third period they were putting more pressure on us but we were turning the puck over.”

With five minutes left in the game, the Caps looked thoroughly beaten. But Mike Knuble, who had a dominating night with a goal and two assists, set up Marcus Johansson for a one-timer to force overtime. After a scoreless overtime, Alexander Semin scored the game winner in the shootout to seal the deal. Continue reading →

capitals hockey, The Daily Feed
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Flyers Edge Caps in Shootout

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‘Green Gets Powed #1’
courtesy of ‘clydeorama’

For only the second time this season, the Capitals lost their second straight game with a 5-4 shootout loss to the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. The loss was a tough one, though the Caps fought hard in the third to send the game into overtime.

Rookie Marcus Johnasson opened the scoring in the first period, notching his second of the season. The goal came after the Caps had put their first three shots off the crossbar and goal posts. The theme of the first half of the game was missed chances by the Caps, including a couple of failed breakaways by Alexander Ovechkin. “I thought all game we had good chances,” coach Bruce Boudreau said. “I was worried after the first period when it was only 1-0 because we didn’t get rewarded for having three 2-on-1s, two breakaways – those are the kind of times that you put teams away and when you let them hang around something usually happens.” Continue reading →