Alex Ovechkin scored twice and had a three-point evening of his own. We have to forget about it and move forward.
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Meanwhile, the Flyers now trail the Capitals 3-0 in a series that had already been slipping away from them.
The Flyers finished with 53 penalty minutes and came unglued down 4-1 in the third period after a power-play goal by Washington defenseman John Carlson. Goalies-Washington, Holtby 3-0-0 (32 shots-31 saves). Philadelphia sent a man to the box. “Plain and simple”, Caps coach Barry Trotz said after the game.
Ovechkin figures to be at the centre of everything tonight, although Mike Richards, the former Kenora beer leaguer, seems to be attracting much of the Flyers dislike, particularly after his crushing hit on Nick Cousins in Game 2. Bryden Schenn tops in assists with 1.
“I didn’t even know it happened”, White said. “It took the wind out of our sails”.
Maybe the old man is just setting us up.
During the final period, fans were throwing souvenir wristbands on the ice, leading to a Flyers penalty for delay of game. One even threw one directly at Orlov, who just moments early was sprawled out on the ice being looked at by trainers. The Flyers scored the first goal less than a minute into the game and from there it was a slow slide into Philadelphia.
And sometimes, the game spirals so far out of control that fans hurl promotional wristbands onto the ice and the PA announcer calls them out for a lack of class. After Washington’s final tally, two more bracelets landed in front of the home bench.
It’s also the line that punctuated this unnatural disaster of a game with an all-out brawl after Pierre-Edouard Bellemare checked Dmitry Orlov headfirst into the boards behind his net. “I’d be doing it too”, White said after the loss.
His teammate, Wayne Simmonds, didn’t share the same sentiment. “But that can’t happen”.
Gudas hit the post through heavy traffic with a center point shot with about five minutes left. “I think it was tough on a lot of people, and that includes the organization, everybody that was ever involved with the Flyers”. “I think the message is in the room how we want to play and we have to make sure we follow it”.
The Washington Capitals have benefited from stellar special teams play and a 101-foot goal to win the initial two contests of their first-round series with the Philadelphia Flyers. We just have to go one game at a time and we’re a streaky team.
The Flyers did what they promised, getting the puck and bodies to the net as Brandon Manning ripped a shot off Michael Raffl, who corralled the loose puck and put it past Braden Holtby for the orange and black’s first lead of the series.
After Mark Streit lost his stick in the neutral zone, Raffl got an interference penalty at 11:17. We had some good looks.
The Flyers dedicated their postseason run to Snider, who died last week after a two-year battle with cancer.
With opponents catching on to his sublime vision and passing skills, Kuznetsov has fired a team-high 15 shots through three playoff games this year. This 3-0 lead is an uncharted fantasy. Michal Neuvirth yields 2.27 goals per game.
They won Game 1 handily without him, and despite the star center’s limited minutes in Game 2, Dallas got just enough scoring to push past the Minnesota Wild.
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Notes: Capitals D Brooks Orpik left in the second period with an undisclosed injury.
