“He did his job and made some huge saves for us while we were under pressure for some good time periods in that hockey game”. It did. I went off, I think it was Chorney’s toe and went in, and it was really a nothing play.
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The Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0, April 24, to clinch a ticket out of the first round of the National Hockey League playoffs. At one point, a fan in the crowd at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday was shown on the videoboard holding up a large sign that read simply, “You’ll Choke!”
But Holtby stopped Nick Cousins and Jake Voracek, both from the slot, in the opening 7 1/2 minutes of the third period, keeping the Caps ahead, 1-0.
“We had a couple good looks and we didn’t finish them”, Trotz said.
Ovechkin made a strong play to keep the puck in the offensive zone, moving it to Marcus Johansson who fed Backstrom for the one-timer.
Washington was able to shake off the ghost of playoffs past by finally eliminating the Flyers, and now their biggest challenge of the season awaits in Pittsburgh.
(I forgot to write down what the exact total was at that point so we’ll just round up to a bajillion.) Washington was outplaying the Flyers in literally every single facet of the game except perhaps in net. “We need to understand it’s not going to be easy”.
After his 44-save shutout win to send the series back to Philadelphia, Neuvirth held the Capitals down until Nicklas Backstrom beat him with a slap shot in the second period. Ovechkin was everywhere and had eight shots on goal to go with eight hits.
“We have to mentally forget about this series and focus on the next one”.
The Capitals also could not produce on a two-man advantage, though the one they had that carried over to the first minute of the second period.
The power play ended when White came up with a hook of his own. Roberto Luongo made 40 saves for the Panthers, who missed a penalty shot in the first overtime and were whistled for two penalties in the second overtime.
The momentum had shifted, and Washington pounced on the opportunity.
“At the core, we believe in ourselves”. But the Flyers’ top line vanished in the series and gave them no real chance at pulling off an upset against the best team in the Eastern Conference. Washington allowed seven goals in its second-round series win over Ottawa in 1998, which lasted five games and came during the Capitals’ run to their only Stanley Cup finals appearance.
Thomas Greiss finished with 41 saves in the teams’ second straight two-overtime game and third in the series to go past regulation. Jason Chimera took had four PIMS, including two minutes for a reckless board midway through the third period.
For three games, including the Flyers’ 1-0 loss in Game 6 Sunday, Neuvirth was more than a goaltender.
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Fortunately for Philadelphia, the Flyers are already on that short list, having stormed back from the seemingly insurmountable deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinal in 2010 against the Boston Bruins. Andrew Ladd had a goal and an assist as the Blackhawks improved to 15-1 in their last 16 Game 6s in the playoffs.
