The Philadelphia Flyers came into Game 3 needing a win at the Wells Fargo Center to get back in their first round series against the Washington Capitals.
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As the Capitals were scoring five power-play goals in Game 3 (making it seven in this series), the Flyers attempted to make a statement late in the contest – and things got ugly on the ice and in the stands.
The Flyers PA announcer went so far as to add “you’ve done it now” while announcing the delay of game penalty. Fans littered the ice with thrown objects to draw a penalty before leaving to let the Flyers face the final horn alone.
“I know they’re upset in that situation”, he said.
With his Flyers having lost the first two of a best-of-seven in Washington, and with the video evidently showing that they had reasonable chances to succeed, Hakstol simply wanted his players to attack. They’ll have one more chance to put a notch in the win column on Wednesday night, or else their season will come to an abrupt end.
“We stick to each other and we manage the puck in the third and we can see, lucky bounce and we get the third [goal]”, Ovechkin said. “They had a special moment, a tough moment, for them, and we tried to handle it. I think we managed it”.
Michael Raffl scored his first goal of the 2016 playoffs just 57 seconds into the game, sending a crowd that was still buzzing from an incredible pre-game ceremony and touching tribute to late chairman and founder Ed Snider into a full-on frenzy. He knocked in the first shot of the game off Brandon Manning’s attempt from the point. Our guys are going out there, and they’re battling, giving everything they’ve got. Washington has a 3-0 lead and is on the verge of eliminating the Flyers.
Mason had two easy goals scored against him that hushed the Philly crowd.
Washington then poured it on with four goals in the third period – one more from Ovechkin and one apiece by Evgeny Kuznetsov, John Carlson and Jay Beagle.
It’s understood that Ovechkin’s shot is rivalled by few on the planet, but when he beat Mason from inside the blue-line on the glove side, it was a shot that the goalie should have stopped. But the post held steady, and the Flyers would have just twenty minutes to avoid a massive three-games-to-none hole in the series.
Mason was befuddled again in the third. Marcus Johansson shot it through Steve Mason’s legs on a power play with Wayne Simmonds in the box for holding three minutes later in the first. Justin Williams’ shot off the boards settled near Mason, who pawed at the puck and it trickled away.
Capitals Coach Barry Trotz, meanwhile, called the second of Washington’s five goals on the man advantage Monday “a big momentum change”. This 3-0 lead is an uncharted fantasy. The Capitals have eight in the series. The penalty kill is a flawless 13-for-13. “They will. He’s been our leading scorer for a reason, because he’s a tremendously gifted hockey player”. Flyers forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare sent Dmitri Orlov into the boards head first.
Down the hallway, when the home locker room first opened, the scene was somber. The Caps captain, by the way, passed Dale Hunter for the top spot in franchise playoff points with 74. Could it carry them to their best performance of the series?
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The event ruckus resulted in Bellemare being given a Game Misconduct, along with a Checking from Behind – served by Nick Cousins – with Radko Gudas and Ryan White being dealt Misconducts.
