Neuvirth was dominant, carrying the team on his shoulders and blunting Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals’ every charge to cut the series deficit to 3-2 and send it back to Philadelphia for Game 6 on Sunday.
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“It’s kind of a serious moment, a very important moment for us”, Ovechkin said. He stopped 149 of 154 shots over the six games with two shutouts. We’re going one game at a time so it’s up to us to come out tomorrow and be ready to contribute offensively.
“We can’t let ourselves play another game like that”, he said of the 2-0 Flyers victory Friday night, which featured a mind-blowing 44-11 Capitals advantage in shots on goal.
Game 6 is noon Sunday at Wells Fargo Center. The orange and black threatened in the third period and pulled Neuvirth with 1:35 remaining, but to no success.
“Washington, they’re a big, strong team that was pretty much built to win and are built to win”, Brayden Schenn said. “You’ve got to find a way”. It was Chris VandeVelde’s stick, not Nicklas Backstrom’s, that caused Ryan White to bleed his own blood at 8:59 of the second period.
Sean Couturier, sidelined since suffering an upper-body injury at the hands of Washington’s Alex Ovechkin in Game 1, skated for about 30 minutes on Saturday but is still listed as a no-go for this series. But Backstrom finally broke through just moments after a Capitals’ power play expired in the second period. “I mean, we gave a good effort”, said one fan watching the game from Xfinity Live. We tried to defend them as best as we wanted. In the usual brutal and physical play of the playoffs, Washington was forced to a Game 6, despite putting the Flyers in the brink of elimination after three games.
“If we’re frustrated, we just need to take a deep breath, relax and realize the task at hand is winning one game, nothing more than that”, said the Capitals’ Justin Williams, who has been a member of three Stanley Cup-winning teams. He stopped 103 of 105 shots he faced in games 4 through 6, beginning with his team in a 3-0 series hole. Five seconds later, he was joined by teammate Matt Niskanen, giving the Flyers a two-minute, 5-on-3 advantage.
The momentum had shifted, and Washington pounced on the opportunity.
“We feel like we accomplished something big here”, T.J. Oshie said. “The way we worked all year, battling to make the playoffs…to be in the position we’re in now, we’re starting to enjoy it more”. The Flyers go into an offseason with many questions, but at least know they’re coming off a season that should be viewed as something to build upon rather than tear down. The Caps are 1-2 in Game 5s when holding a 3-1 series lead. “I know I can play good in the playoffs”.
Scoring just five goals in six games, fans say the Flyers didn’t have the firepower to keep up with a talented Caps squad that had the best record in the league.
It matters to the Capitals, who lost back-to-back games in regulation after not doing so the entire regular season on the way to the Presidents’ Trophy.
However, those plays are what the Capitals expected. “They play tight defensively and when you get a chance, you have to beat Holtby”.
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.
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For all of the bluster and bravado and the blank and confused stares when asked about the ghosts of playoffs past, they were alive and floating on Sunday.
