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Wrap: Flyers Double Up Caps, 6-3

March 18, 2018, 8:41 PM ET [321 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
WRAP: FLYERS DOUBLE UP CAPS, 6-3

Building off an uplifting comeback win in Raleigh on Saturday night, the Philadelphia Flyers played with a focused urgency and never trailed as they downed the Metropolitan Division leading Washington Capitals, 6-3, at the Wells Fargo Center on Tuesday.

Scoreless after one period and tied at 1-1 late in the second period, the Flyers broke through for two late second period tallies to enter the third period in the driver's seat with a 3-1 lead. Philly remained aggressive in the third period and, despite a couple miscues, pulled away to seal a three-goal victory.

"To try and put it into perspective, these are basically all playoff games right now. We went for a pretty long stretch here where we lost a bunch of points and you don’t get a chance to get those back. We’re in the middle of a battle here and every point that we can gain is critical," Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol said.

"To be able to do that last night and come back with what I think is a real gutsy effort here, on a back to back effort against a really good hockey team, those are good points for us. They’re real important points.”

Scoring his first NHL in his 14th game with the Flyers, rookie left winger Oskar Lindblom made the Capitals pay for a turnover and put Philly ahead to stay at 18:19 of the second period. The Flyers also got goals from Shayne Gostisbehere (12th) and Ivan Provorov (12th) in the middle frame. Wayne Simmonds (22nd and 23rd) scored twice in the third period before Jakub Voracek (18th) iced the win with an empty-netter in the final minute.

"I don’t want to think about it anymore. Got the first one today and it was a huge one in the game so it was good," Lindblom said of his rising shot from the right circle off a bouncing puck. "When I saw Jake with the puck and I had an open spot, I knew that if the puck was coming to me I was going to shoot it. Good feeling.”

Claude Giroux (58th assist), Voracek (60th), Radko Gudas (10th and 11th), Sean Couturier (39th and 39th) and Robert Hägg (6th) collected assists.

Meanwhile Travis Konecny (two shots, 15 shifts, three blocks) came up with two painful but clutch blocked shots in the third period and later fought Washington's T.J. Oshie.

"It feels so good coming out of this back to back with two points and it’s just huge for our team right now to be building that confidence and playing these teams that we need to get wins against," Konecny said.

Added Simmonds, "Persistence [was the key]. I thought we came in and started off the game well and we just kept going. You don’t always get the goals right at the start so you have to fight and battle for the 60 minutes. Tonight we had a great second. We got three. Then we got three in the third.

Petr Mrazek played a strong game in goal for the Flyers apart from an ultimately meaningless late goal for Washington. He came up with clutch stops several times in making 25 saves on 28 shots.

"After the game in Columbus, when you don’t finish the game you trying to go through the next game with big confidence and build from that, so you know, I tried from the beginning to focus on the puck and get as many pucks as I could and that was a big first period for me and for our team," Mrazek said.

Phillipp Grubauer took the loss for Washington. He stopped 29 of 34 shots prior to the Voracek empty net goal.

Philly went 0-for-3 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill. The game was more notable for three prolonged stretches of 4-on-4 play, but Philly's final penalty kill was an excellent one for the team.

The Flyers lost Michael Raffl to an upper-body injury in the second period. He will be re-evaluated on Monday. An off-day for most of the club in terms of on-ice activity, the team will travel to Detroit to prepare for a game the next night against the Red Wings.

1ST PERIOD

Mrazek stopped a routine shot by John Carlson from the top of the right circle in the opening minute for the game's first save. He stopped Michal Kempny from the opposite side on the next shift. The Scott Laughton line won a battle down low in the offensive zone for a Laughton shot from the right circle at 3:33.

Shots were 4-2 Caps through 4:19.

Gostisbehere went down at the right point and the Capitals broke out on a 3-on-2 rush. Mrazek made a great lateral movement save as the pass across deflected off Nicklas Bäckström's skate and on the net. It was hard to tell if there was a kicking motion as Bäckström crashed the net but it was irrelevant because Mrazek made the stop.

Voracek was high-sticked behind the Washington net going in to forecheck. No call was made.

Laughton and Read broke out on a 2-on-1 rush with Robert Hägg as a trailer. Laughton made a decent pass across but, with a wide open net, Read wasn't ready for the puck and no shot resulted. The play ended up being scored as a missed shot attempt for Laughton although he was trying to pass.

The Flyers got the game's first power play at 10:33. Tom Wilson went off for interference on Nolan Patrick. A penalty killer lost his stick but the top unit was unable to take advantage. The second unit never got set up despite a slick offensive zone entry by Travis Konecny as he stickhandled into the right circle in the waning seconds. A pass into traffic intended for Oskar Lindblom ended the play.

Shots were 6-4 Caps at a TV timeout at the 14:14 mark following a routine flip shot on net by Hägg that Grubauer snared and held.

MacDonald was tripped accidentally as he stepped on Bäckström's stick on a race for the puck in the Flyers' zone at 14:48. The Flyers went on their second power play. Gostisbehere put an early shot on net but no one got to the rebound. Play continued. Couturier pulled a puck between his legs near the right side of the net. A scrum ensued after the whistle. Couturier (roughing) got the lone penalty.

During 4-on-4 play, Washington had back-to-back scoring chances on the same shift -- first right off a clean faceoff win in the left circle and then a good look from between the circles -- but Mrazek stopped Dmitry Orlov off the Lars Eller faceoff win against Patrick and then Matt Niskanen after Eller again beat Patrick on a draw. The Flyers killed off the abbreviated 5-on-4 penalty time.

With time ticking down to the final minute, the Patrick line had an extended forechecking shift deep in Caps' territory, including a deflection by Patrick after Voracek threaded a puck at the net. The Couturier line followed with a shift mostly spent in the offensive zone.

First period shots were 9-8 Flyers.

2ND PERIOD

A Travis Sanheim left point shot at the 12-second mark was corralled by Grubauer. The Caps pushed play the other way and Bäckström drew a hooking penalty on Couturier going to the net at 43 seconds. The power play didn't last lost. Just four seconds later, with Mrazek readying himself after the Caps won the draw, he was brushed into by Andre Burakovsky. A goalie interference penalty was called.

During 4-on-4 play, Mrazek had to be sharp to stop pinching defenseman Jakub Jerabek in front. Play went the other way and Grubauer stopped a Provorov shot. Giroux won the ensuing left circle draw back to Gostisbehere, who blasted a slapper into the net for a 1-0 lead at 2:15. The lone assist went to Giroux.

At 2:49, Provorov was called for high sticking behind the Flyers' net. Giroux did some stellar PKing work to collect a turnover and rag some time off the clock in the neutral zone before feeding back to the D for a clear down the ice. Filppula and then Couturier had clears as the kill continued.

Weal had a good rush up the left side but was denied on a sharp angle shot attempt aiming for the short side. At a Caps offside at 7:41, shots were 5-3 Flyers (14-11 Flyers overall).

The Laughton line got caught with four skaters behind the Caps net and Washington turned it into a 2-on-1 the other way. Mrazek preserved the 1-0 lead with stops on Alex Chiasson and Lars Eller.

Provorov (slashing) and Tom Wilson (roughing) went at it after a whistle in the Flyers zone to set up another round of 4-on-4 play at 9:42. Couturier won a draw in the defensive zone and, from the neutral zone, Giroux sprung Andrew MacDonald and Couturier on a 2-on-1. Grubauer denied Couturier in close. Later, he stopped Couturier again. Yet another Flyers 2-on-1 went awry as puck-carrier Couturier missed the mark on a back pass. With 29 seconds left of 4-on-4 play, Mrazek caught a Burakovsky shot off the right from the right circle.

A TV timeout followed at 11:13. Shots were 10-6 Flyers (19-14 Flyers overall). After play resumed and the penalties expired, Provorov put a left point shot through traffic on net. The shot produced a rebound in front but Washington cleared it.

The Capitals turned a clean breakout into a 3-on-2 rush and a near goal as Bäckström broke through on the left side and centered a pass in front. Gudas came up with a block and clear.

However, the Caps soon tied the game. After a neutral zone turnover by Provorov, the Caps broke into the Flyers zone. Ovechkin shook off Provorov's checking attempt and nicely re-directed home a Travis Boyd shot in front to tie the game at 1-1 at the 15:08 mark. The assists went to Boyd and Carlson.

A Hägg giveaway on the left defensive half-wall created another momentarily dangerous-looking opportunity for Washington but no harm came of it.

Weal created a scoring chance down low in the Washington zone and was grabbed and spun by Jay Beagle. Referee Wes McCauley shook his head and play continued.

The Caps paid dearly for a turnover in the defensive zone. Voracek collected the puck on the left side and fed across the ice to Lindblom. From the right circle, Lindblom fired off a rising shot over the goalie's stick and blocker for a 2-1 lead at 18:19. Voracek got the lone assist.

The Flyers made it 3-1 with 18.3 seconds left. With Couturier and Simmonds at the net, a left side shot by Provorov went just over Couturier's outstretched stick blade then deflected into the net off Christian Djoos' shin pad. The assists went to Gudas and Couturier at 19:41.

Shots were 14-7 Flyers (23-15 Flyers overall).

3RD PERIOD

Michael Raffl, whose final shift was from 13:43 to 14:46 of the second period, did not come out for the third period. Per Flyers GM Ron Hextall, Raffl sustained an upper-body injury. A further update was promised for Monday.

Konecny blocked a Djoos shot off his right thigh and hobbled up the tunnel to walk it off in the opening minute of the third period. Simmonds stepped over the blueline and drifted a shot on Grubauer for a stoppage at 1:33.

The Flyers won the ensuing draw and scored to make it 4-1. Filppula drew the puck cleanly back to Gudas, who rotated over to Robert Hägg. The point blast was redirected home in front by Simmonds at 1:37.

A Gudas turnover nearly turned into a goal right after play resulted. Carlson fed over to Beagle in the left circle that Mrazek stopped. The rebound popped up, off the crossbar and back down into the crease. Sliding into the crease along with Gudas, Read swept it to safety.

With 12:38 left, a Giroux pass in the neutral zone intended for Konecny missed connections and went for an icing. Koencny was then drilled in the left defensive zone corner by Oshie. Defending himself, he dropped the gloves with Oshie and had a spirited fight at 7:41. Konecny cut his hand in the bout and went up the tunnel for the second time in the period.

Voracek twisted and turned in the neutral zone to occupy the puck and allow a line change before he, too, headed off the ice. Couturier collected a Washington turnover but was broken up on a one-on-rush into the Washington zone.

Konecny returned to the ice. He promptly blocked an Orlov shot off the leg, but seemed OK. Near the five-minute mark of the period, Weal had a chance in front off a passout from Laughton but remained snakebitten.

At a TV timeout with 9:48 left, shots were 8-4 Flyers (31-19 Flyers overall). The Caps scored off the line rush after play resumed to cut the gap to 4-2.

A puck rebounded off the end boards in the Washington zone. Gudas swung and missed in the neutral zone, creating a 2-on-1 for the Caps with Hägg back to defend. A Jakub Vrana pass to Stephenson hit the mark and the result was a goal that Mrazek had no chance to stop. Time of the goal was 10:31.

Mrazek made a big save on a bang-bang chance in front for Eller to keep the lead at two goals.

With Raffl injured and Konecny in the dressing room, Read moved onto the Giroux line.

Sanheim broke up a play in the defensive zone and sent the Patrick line off on an odd-man rush. An extra pass by Voracek missed the mark and ended the threat. However, on the next shift, the Flyers scored to make it 5-2. Under pressure from Weal, the puck was turned over directly onto Simmonds' stick. Simmonds skated in a stride and, at 14:27, rifled a shot over Grubauer's glove to open a 5-2 lead.

At a TV timeout with 4:56 left left, shots were 11-7 Flyers (34-22 Flyers overall).

Some loose play in the Flyers zone resulted in a Capitals goal to make it 5-3 with 3:53 left. A side angle backhander by Carlson found the open short side with Mrazek out of position. The assists went to Bäckström and Wilson.

Eller attacked with speed and Mrazek stopped a quick shot from the right circle aimed at the short side.

The Caps pulled Grubauer for a 6-on-5 attack with over two minutes left. Philly caught a break as Weal played a puck with a high stick before icing the puck. The result was still a faceoff deep in Flyers territory but they were allowed to change lines. The Flyers called timeout with 1:57 left.

Bidding for his 30th goal, Couturier took a pass from Read and was harassed just enough by Eller to dribble a shot wide of the vacant net. Voracek did the empty-net scoring honers with 37.1 seconds left to ice a 6-3 win. The lone assist went to Couturier.

Shots were 13-13 (36-28 Flyers overall).
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