Neuvirth stopped all 44 shots the Washington Capitals threw his way Friday night, carrying the Flyers to a 2-0 victory and sending the first-round playoff series back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Sunday.
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The Philadelphia Flyers will try to force a seventh game on Sunday afternoon when they host the Washington Capitals in Game 6. 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.
Not these Capitals, and certainly not against these punchless Flyers.
For the third straight game, Michal Neuvirth got the start in net for Philadelphia.
“You take a deep breath and you go right back at it”, Trotz said.
Capitals forward Mike Richards was on the 2009-10 Flyers team that erased a 3-0 deficit and beat the Boston Bruins in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Ovechkin had an assist on Backstrom’s second-period goal that easily held against the Flyers.
The Capitals’ PK manhandled the Flyers’ power play from the series’ start.
“They don’t give up a whole lot”, Schenn said. We had a chance to win today.
“It’s a different group”.
“We’re not going to play like we did this last game”, Simmonds said, looking ahead to Sunday’s High Noon showdown.
Washington netminder Braden Holtby made 26 saves, capping a six-game effort in which he surrendered just five goals.
The under is 5-1-1 in the Capitals’ last seven games after allowing two goals or less in their previous game.
The Flyers entered a miserable 1 for 21 on the postseason power play.
In the end, the Caps bench was roaring for its penalty killers and Flyers forward Ryan White was screaming at officials when he was whistled for a holding the stick penalty after the 5-on-3 failed.
At the game’s conclusion, the crowd of 19,925 gave the team a rousing send-off with a standing ovation and chants of “Let’s go Flyers!”. They’re 2-7 at home overall and 1-4 since 2008.
Neither team scored on their power plays.
The Flyers potentially could face goaltending questions as they head into the offseason. Defensively, the Capitals are yielding 2.3 goals and ranking 3rd in penalty kill with 85.1 percent.
“We have to believe it is going to happen, ” he said.
“Neuvy got us a win”, Giroux said.
“It was 3 on 2 and a good pass and a unbelievable shot”, Neuvirth said. He stopped 103 of 105 shots he faced in games 4 through 6, beginning with his team in a 3-0 series hole. With the win, Washington advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Thomas Greiss made 41 saves for the Islanders. Not even a sixth Flyers skater helped. If the Caps do, this series will not return to Washington. In the series, Giroux managed only one point.
“I’m proud of every single guy in this dressing room”, Wayne Simmonds said.
On Saturday, Trotz told his team: “We’re up 3-2 going into Game 6”.
Giroux insisted he was not hurt, just “not good enough”. We’ve got to go into Philadelphia and we’ve got to play really well and get a win there. “They weren’t expected to get here at all, coming back through the last few games to get into the playoffs and get the last seed”, said Matt from Cherry Hill, who was just happy for the opportunity to watch some playoff hockey. Washington defenceman Brooks Orpik missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury suffered on a hit by White on Monday. For the first time since 2009, the National Hockey League gets Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby in the same playoff series.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) – Joonas Donskoi broke a tie with his second goal early in the third period, and the San Jose Sharks blew a three-goal lead before rallying to wrap up their first-round playoff series.
