The Washington Capitals goalie stopped all 26 shots the Philadelphia Flyers threw his way, including 11 in the third period, and the Capitals escaped Wells Fargo Center with a 1-0 win after finally getting a puck past Michal Neuvirth.
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In a series that highlighted their offensive inefficiencies, the Philadelphia Flyers did everything they could in the final 10 minutes Sunday to change the narrative and stave off elimination for the third-straight game. Oddly enough, NBC play-by-play man Kenny Albert had just mentioned that stat seconds before Neuvirth was beaten by the Backstrom snipe. Whatever you decide is an appropriate description for the second round series between these two teams, the potential exists for any prediction to fall short of just how hard they will battle to advance.
Washington Capitals’ Matt Niskanen, right, checks Philadelphia Flyers’ Matt Read into the boards during the second period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey playoffs, Sunday, April 24, 2016, in Philadelphia. “We were calm and we knew it”, Ovechkin said. In this game, we weren’t as disciplined as we needed to be.
The Capitals will move on to what should be a classic conference semifinal series against Pittsburgh. Another victory Sunday at home would force an unlikely Game 7 and put Washington on the brink of yet another playoff failure. This is the eighth time in the past nine seasons the Capitals have reached the playoffs, but they have not reached the conference finals in that span. The reward for beating the Flyers: keeping alive the pursuit of the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history. This afternoon the Washington Capitals eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers, moving on to meet the Pens. “The past is a different regime”, Holtby said. Even after Couturier left, Ovechkin’s reign of terror as a powerful hitter went on.
Brayden Schenn, who came in tied for the Flyers’ lead in hits (20) during the series, flattened Nicklas Backstrom 3:02 into the game. Neuvirth was sensational again, but the Flyers were ultimately doomed by a power play that could not cash in against Holtby. The Flyers were 0 for 3 and the Caps were 0 for 2.
On Saturday at the Skate Zone, players said there’s still pressure on both sides. “And, to me, once we got through that, I felt we were gonna find a way to win the hockey game”.
After coming into relief duty in Game 4, Neuvirth made 103 saves on 105 shots.
It didn’t matter that Washington outshot Philadelphia, 44-11, including 35-6 at five-on-five.
After capitalizing on an out of control Flyers team early in the series, the Caps got silly in Game Five.
One thing the Flyers have to do is cut down on the shots allowed. While the Caps were expected to beat them in less than six games, the Caps showed impressive resilience in overcoming a playoff demon that had haunted them in the past.
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The Flyers’ top line (Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds) capped off a frustrating series with a couple of penalties in the first period, but the more aggressive penalty kill (5 for 5) was up to the task. 852 save percentage that led to the Flyers falling into an 0-3 hole.
