Will the Flyers once again avoid elimination when they face the Capitals at 12:00PM ET in Game 6 of the NHL Eastern Conference first round?
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After two consecutive losses, the top-seeded Capitals avoided the ghosts of their playoffs past, winning the hard-fought series, 4-2, and advancing to play the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round.
“We were really unhappy with a play that he made on (Evgeny Kuznetsov) last game, and so, it had to be done”, Oshie said.
It certainly wasn’t an offensive pummeling that we’re used to seeing Washington deliver.
Riding the momentum of Michal Neuvirth in net, the Flyers won two straight to force an unlikely trip home. He responded with two fantastic outings, highlighted by his 44-save effort in Game 5’s shutout win. Philadelphia’s average length for shots on goal was more than 40 feet in Game 6, with a staggering six shots traveling more than 50 feet to get to Holtby.
Five seconds later, they caused another uproar when they called Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen for hooking against Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds.
The hockey gods can be as benevolent as they are vengeful.
David Perron scored the tying goal earlier in the second and assisted on Garbutt’s goal along with Ryan Getzlaf. The Capitals, collectively, were soft, and if he wanted to succeed in that role and take the team to heights it had not reached, improving its ruthlessness was the first thing that needed to be accomplished. They barely so much as tested Holtby. “When you’re getting goaltending like that, you have a chance to win every night”. Those two players usually drive the Flyers’ power play. Radko Gudas bumps off Ovechkin as the Caps captain moves the puck along the blueline. You want to get some goals for the guy, to give him some support.
“It was 3 on 2 and a good pass and a unbelievable shot”, Neuvirth said.
“I think that’s about it”.
Simply put, the Flyers will not survive another game if they repeat their Game 5 performance.
“I think one reason was they played well defensively, pretty tight”, Mark Streit said. The team was exhausted and frustrated.
And we’ll have a hockey game at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Flyers went 1-for-21 in the series on the power play.
The Flyers didn’t cash in, and they didn’t even come particularly close outside of a half-decent rebound chance for Simmonds.
“We sacrificed our body 5-on-3”, Ovechkin said.
As the clock counted down to the end of the game, the Philadelphia faithful came to their feet to salute their team. What a difference four days make.
Fitting in a series so defined by the Flyers’ response to Washington’s special teams, Philly had a defining moment late in the first (carrying over to the second) facing a two-man down 5-on-3 penalty kill.
“We were trying”, said the Flyers’ Braden Schenn. Dallas had the fourth-best power play at 22.1 percent during the regular season. Devan Dubnyk didn’t appear to see it, and after Charlie Coyle tried to keep it away from the line, the puck glanced off Dubnyk and went in for a 5-3 lead with 9:32 left. “It’s obviously frustrating to be out here right now”. “And kudos to them, through the series, for that”.
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