The Washington Capitals met the Philadelphia Flyers at home Tuesday, who were seeking their fourth straight win. Could they get there or could Philly play spoilers?
Alex Ovechkin started with a backhand that landed behind Carter Hart. TJ Oshie completed a nice passing game to take the lead to two. James Van Riemsdyk met a breakaway almost immediately to halve that lead. Martin Fehervary extended the lead to two before the end of the first period.
Lars Eller completed another great passing play to increase the advantage early in the second. Conor Sheary was left all alone in front of the net and he dangled the goal total to five. Matt Irwin found the end zone for six. Lars Eller, extra point was good. Garnet Hathaway scored the eighth goal and I’m out of cliche ways of describing goals that go in. JVR for a random pinball goal. Johan Larsson for nine.
Capitals beat Flyers 9-2!
Oh yes, we have to do this.
- I didn’t like the start of the first half but when Ovi scored the situation calmed down and the Caps started taking it to the Flyers. They created a pile in the transition phase by flipping the puck defensively, which is always good to see.
- As said before, Alex Ovechkin got the good guys on the board first with the 776th goal of his career and the 46th of this season. Ovi now has goals in four straight games and 14 in his last 18. Keep it up O.
- That second goal was a thing of beauty and it starts with some really great work below the goal line from Nicklas Backstrom. His legendary ability to shield the puck and direct it to an open teammate will always be fun. John Carlson was the open teammate on this occasion, perfectly executing a slap pass to TJ Oshie, who fired his ninth of the season into an empty net. Carlson, who is ridiculously hot right now, hit the 50-assist mark in goal for the fourth time in his career. About Caps PRhe is only the 17th defenseman in NHL history with four seasons with 50 assists.
Now wait a second pic.twitter.com/xnUOCCEtLx
— Dimitri Filipovic (@DimFilipovic) April 13, 2022
- The Caps absolutely flattened the Flyers in the second. Philly looked like a team that really doesn’t care at this point in their season. 13 scoring chances in the five-a-side in the second frame alone for the team in red.
- Conor Sheary was left open in a way I’ve never seen in an NHL player who wasn’t on the run or in the middle of a shootout attempt. He could have pitched a tent in front of Martin Jones, gotten a night’s sleep, woken up and still had time to plant the puck.
- Martin Fehervary spawned the puck skills bag several times in that game. The first resulted in him slipping home with a backhand for his eighth goal of the season. The second resulted in Kevin Connauton nearly being thrown through the glass as he tried to hit Marty, and was thwarted by the rookie’s smooth movements.
- Lars Eller with two more goals. Competition is a good thing.
RIP to Gilbert Gottfried, who probably has the best sequence in the history of Hollywood Squares game shows. Unless you’re an old hag like me who remembers the rules, both contestants needed his square to secure the 5-square win, but he decided to troll them both pic.twitter.com/Egzyzygudd
— Manny (@mannyfidel) April 12, 2022
- The third was played at scrimmage tempo just as the Caps lit the scoreboard. You just love a game like that. The only thing that would have made it better would have been more Ovi goals.
- Matt Irwin scored his first goal as a member of the Capitals and his first NHL overall since December 6, 2018. John Larson also got his first as a cap. Well done guys.
- The end of this game was something for sure. Maybe the Flyers should try to avoid getting hit nine times.
- Chris Kreider with the most accidental fifty-goal season in league history, perhaps outside of Jonathan Cheechoo.
The Caps head north of the border next as they visit Toronto to play a Leafs team led by Auston Matthews, who appears to be scoring twice in every single game he plays these days.
Headline photo courtesy of @dunnbe