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Flyers Playoff Gameday: ECQF Game 6 vs. WSH |
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GAME 6 PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. CAPITALS
Needing a win to stave off playoff elimination and send the series back to Washington for a seventh game, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers are home to face Barry Trotz's Washington Capitals in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals on Sunday. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is at noon EDT. The game will be televised nationally on NBC.
The Capitals played their best overall game of the series in Game 5, dominating puck possession for most of the night and keeping the Flyers from generating shots on Braden Holtby. The Capitals outshot the Flyers by a 44-11 margin; the lowest shot total (playoffs or regular season) in Flyers' franchise history and the biggest negative shot disparity in franchise history.
The one thing Washington could not do: solve Michal Neuvirth. The former Capitals netminder assembled a shutout masterpiece that will go down among the greatest single-game goaltending performances in Flyers -- even NHL -- playoff history.
In the meantime, the Flyers scratched out a goal when Ryan White swept at a loose puck near the Caps' net moments after the conclusion of a futile power play. The puck, which was headed wide of the wide, deflected off the skate of Washington defenseman Taylor Chorney and re-directed past Holtby (nine saves on 10 shots). Chris VandeVelde added an empty net goal in the final minute to seal a 2-0 win.
The Flyers went 0-for-6 on the power play in Game 5 but 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
Flyers Outlook
To a man, Flyers players said on Saturday that they realize what happened in Game 5 is not sustainable if they are to force a seventh game in the series. Flyers captain Claude Giroux said the team needs to be better in all three zones while general manager Ron Hextall said that Neuvirth was virtually the only Flyer who stood out in a positive way in Game 5.
One of the few creative plays the Flyers made in Game 5 was a crafty lateral-skating play by defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere to beat a defender, find some open room and fire a shot that beat Holtby but went off the goal post. Philly will need more plays where they make something out of nothing to create a scoring opportunity.
With the exception of Gostisbehere's power play goal in Game 4, the power play has been a momentum killer for the Flyers throughout the series. It is not just that they aren't scoring. They aren't even getting set up. The zone entry attempts and puck retrievals on the boards have been atrocious. Giroux said on Saturday that at least creating momentum from power plays, even if the team does not score, is a main goal for Game 6.
On the flip side, the Flyers have done a much better job not only staying out of the penalty box the last two games but also killing the penalties they have taken without relying solely on their goaltender and shot block attempts to survive for two minutes. They've been much more aggressive in pressuring setup man Nicklas Bäckström and point man John Carlson rather than sitting back in a very passive box. Flyers defenseman Nick Schultz said on Saturday that the team has found some equilibrium by being more active and forcing Washington to make plays under pressure.
Philadelphia has blocked more than 100 shots in the first five games of the series. Hakstol said on Saturday that he views the stat very positively (unlike St. Louis Blues coach Ken Hitchcock last year, who said it only meant that his team didn't have the puck nearly enough in a playoff series). Hakstol said that, while puck possession was an issue in Game 5, the possession battles were pretty even through the first four games and the high shot block totals for both sides were a reflection of two teams competing and paying the price.
Shutdown center Sean Couturier skated briefly on his own before the team's optional practice on Saturday. Hextall said the player, who suffered a suspected left shoulder injury in Game 1, remained on the same two-week timetable that was announced initially.
Scott Laughton (upper body) is doing well after being released from the hospital on Thursday. He is slated to skate on Monday.
Giroux acknowledged that he has to be more of a difference-maker than he's been for most of the series. The player insisted he feels fine, but his play and a higher-than-usual number of maintenance days the last couple months suggest a nagging injury. Jakub Voracek, apart from a goal in Game 2, has struggled in series as well.
Capitals Outlook
The Capitals hope to get players such as Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky going in the series. They've had scoring chances -- and Kuznetsov scored a Game 3 goal on the rebound off an initial freak bounce off a side boards stanchion -- but the results have not been there. In the meantime, veteran forward Justin Williams is coming off one of the worst playoff games of his career, as he repeatedly took careless high-sticking penalties.
One of the more underrated Capitals players through the first five games has been forward Marcus Johansson. The Swede has been very effective in setting up screens, scoring a deflection goal in Game 3, and digging for pucks in scrums.
Top Capitals defenseman John Carlson has been a force in the series; downright dominant at times. Karl Alzner has been his typical steady self. Matt Niskanen has had ups and downs; ditto Dmitri Orlov. Shutdown defenseman Brooks Orpik (suspected concussion suffered in Game 3) is questionable for the rest of the series. Nate Schmidt and Chorney have struggled at times when the Flyers have been able to isolate them.
On the power play, despite the high volume of Philadelphia shot blocks, the Capitals did as they pleased earlier in the series. It may now be up to the Capitals to make some minor tweaks after going 0-for-5 with less frequent scoring chances. On the penalty kill, there's no need for Washington to change a thing right now.
Holtby has been outstanding in the series in his own right. He let in an iffy goal to Andrew MacDonald in Game 4 but otherwise had little to no chance of any of the Philadelphia goals that have gone in. He only really saw nine shots in Game 5 -- the White goal would not have been a shot had it not deflected off a Cap, and the VandeVelde goal was an empty netter on a Caps 6-on-5 -- but he's been tremendous when he's had some tough but not impossible saves.
Alex Ovechkin may have been held off the score sheet last game, along with the rest of his team, but he may have had his best overall game of the series. He was both a physical force and at the forefront of several prime scoring chances.
T.J. Oshie challenged Schenn to a fight off the opening faceoff of Game 5, in an attempt to avenge Schenn's cross-check to the back of Kuznetsov's knee in Game 4. Schenn obliged, which is good sportsmanship within the hockey realm, and proceeded to beat the tar out of Oshie in a lopsided fight. The fight outcome was, however, secondary to a top-line player showing support for a teammate.
Crash-and-bang role playing winger Tom Wilson has been effective at times in the series, and more of a sideshow at others. Ditto Jason Chimera, who drew the Flyers' ire for a hit from behind on Voracek in Game 5 and, late in the regular season, was fined by the NHL for a butt-ending incident with Gostisbehere after a whistle.
Key team stat comparisons
Regular Season (overall NHL ranking in parenthesis)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.57 (22nd), Capitals 3.02 2nd)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.59 (T-13th), Capitals 2.33 (2nd)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 133/130, Capitals 166/128
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.9% (T-11th), Capitals 21.9% (5th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 80.5% (T-20th), Capitals 85.2% (2nd)
Shots per game: Flyers 31.0 (5th), Capitals 30.6 (T-7th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 30.7 (23rd), Capitals 28.4 (6th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 51.0% (6th), Capitals 49.6% (19th)
Series to date
Goals per game: Flyers 1.20 (0,1,1,2,2), Capitals 3.25 (2,4,6,1,0) 2.60
Goals against per game: Flyers 2.60, Capitals 1.20
5-on-5 GF/GA ratio: Flyers 4/5, Capitals 5/4
Power play efficiency: Flyers 4.8% (1-for-21), 36.4% (8-for-22)
Penalty kill efficiency: Flyers 63.6% (14-for-22), 95.2% (20-for-21)
Shots per game: Flyers 25.8 (19,42, 32, 25, 11), Capitals 31.4 (31, 23, 27, 32, 44)
Shots against per game: Flyers 31.4, Capitals 25.7
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.3% (154-for-306), Capitals 49.7% (152-for-306)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
10 Brayden Schenn - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
93 Jakub Voracek - 12 Michael Raffl - 89 Sam Gagner
24 Matt Read - 52 Nick Cousins - 36 Colin McDonald
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White
47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
30 Michal Neuvirth
[35 Steve Mason]
Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev (healthy), R.J. Umberger (healthy), Jordan Weal (healthy), Sean Couturier (upper body, left shoulder), Michael Del Zotto (wrist surgery), Scott Laughton (upper body), Anthony Stolarz (healthy), Davis Drewiske (healthy), Mark Alt (healthy), Robert Hägg (healthy), Samuel Morin (healthy), Chris Conner (healthy), Taylor Leier (healthy), Cole Bardreau (healthy).
Capitals
8 Alex Ovechkin - 19 Nicklas Bäckström - 77 T.J. Oshie
65 Andre Burakovsky - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 14 Justin Williams
25 Jason Chimera - 10 Mike Richards - 90 Marcus Johansson
26 Daniel Winnik - 83 Jay Beagle - 43 Tom Wilson
27 Karl Alzner - 2 Matt Niskanen
88 Nate Schmidt - 74 John Carlson
9 Dmitri Orlov - 6 Mike Weber
70 Braden Holtby
[31 Philipp Grubauer]
Scratches: Taylor Chorne (healthy), Stanislav Galiev (healthy), Michael Latta (healthy), Brooks Orpik (upper body, suspected concussion).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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