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Wrap: Flyers Generate Good Chances, Bad Results in 4-1 Loss to Caps |
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WRAP: FLYERS GENERATE CHANCES BUT NOT RESULTS, LOSE 4-1 TO CAPS
The Philadelphia Flyers played considerably better than the final score would suggest but came out on the wrong end of a 4-1 score against the Washington Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday night. A disallowed goal in the opening minute, a hit crossbar and a pair of quick-strike Washington goals scored just under the crossbar ultimately played a big role in the outcome of what was a vital game for the Flyers' slimmer and slimmer playoff hopes.
Evgeny Kuznetsov tallied a pair of goals for the Capitals while Nickas Bäckström and T.J. Oshie each had a goal and an assist. Alexander Ovechkin and Justin Williams collected two assists apiece. Braden Holtby stopepd 33 of 34 Philadelphia shots and also benefited from some favorable puck-luck on pucks that got past him as well as the disallowed goal.
Brayden Schenn, who played a very physical game, notched the lone Flyers goal. Michal Neuvirth was not terrible in stopping 25 of 29 shots but not able to come up with a couple of tough but not impossible saves.
Overall, the game play was rather even. The difference of course, was that one side was able to finish its chances -- and went 1-for-2 on the power play -- and the other continued its struggles to light the lamp. Was it just a matter of a few bounces of the puck?
“I really want to say that’s true and it might be the case but it doesn’t help. We keep telling that we’ve been playing pretty well but lose a lot of hockey games. We just got to find a way. Yeah we did a lot of good things. We had a few chances and didn’t get the bounce at the beginning and they might have got it but that’s just the way it goes," defenseman Mark Streit said.
"[The Capitals have] been winning a lot of hockey games. Then you got the bounce a little bit on the other side right now. We have to find a way to turn it around, to get the bounces, just to get a little bit lucky out there, and to get the ugly goal. It’s tough. It’s frustrating. But it’s also the bloody truth.”
The Flyers were 66.1 percent on faceoffs as a team, winning 43 and losing 22. Sean Couturier went 18-for-24 (75 pct) while Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was 8-for-11 (73 pct) and Claude Giroux was 11-for-16 (69 pct).
Just 23 seconds after the opening faceoff, after Dale Weise hustled in to cancel out an icing and won a battle behind the net, a scramble ensued in front of the net and Voracek scored. The Caps challenged the ruling based on a claim of goalie interference by Weise. The goal was overturned for incidental contact in the crease. Even though it was the slightest of contact and Holtby had a fair opportunity for the save, the unforgiving nature of NHL Rule 69 resulted in an overturned goal.
"To be honest with you I was trying to brace myself so I didn’t pull him over and it comes back the other way. I don’t know what else to do there. I’m trying to poke the puck with one hand and brace myself so I don’t hit him," Weise said.
"I’m trying to stop and I put one hand on him and I’m trying to poke the puck with my other one so I don’t just bull through him. So I don’t know what else I can do. To be really honest with you I don’t think I really touched him that hard.”
At 2:22, Matt Read took a drop pass from Nick Cousins. Holtby snapped the ensuing shot out of the air for a stoppage.On the next shift, a Pierre-Edouard Bellemare blast got past Holtby but stayed out of the net. At the other end, Neuvirth lost his stick but came up with a save on Taylor Chorney from the right side.
Shots were 5-5 through the first five minutes of the game as Gostisbehere blasted a center point shot on net through a partial screen. Hontly tracked it well and made the save. Moments later, Holtby stopped a point shot by Ivan Provorov and then kicked out the pad to deny Sean Couturier's followup attempt.
Neuvirth made a tough stop on the next shift, stopping a T.J. Oshie wraparound try and then hanging on in a goal mouth scramble.
The Caps grabbed a 1-0 lead on a Nicklas Bäckström goal that was similar to one he scored in Game 2 of the playoffs last year; a rising wrist shot under the bar to the short side. Oshie and Alex Ovechkin got the assists at 6:33 on Bäckström's 18th goal of the season.
The Caps went to the power play (after a long delayed call) at 8:16 on a holding the stick penalty against Claude Giroux. Philly survived the penalty.
A Wayne Simmonds neutral zone hit created a 3-on-1 rush but the Flyers overpassed the puck and the chance fizzled out as the Caps recovered and the attack ran out of room.
Brandon Manning, who had some puck management issues throughout the first period, turned a puck over under pressure but no harm resulted around the 7:30 mark. A minute later, Bellemare had a great chance on a fast-developing play but could put a backhander into the net as he sped past.
With 4:43 left in the first period, Couturier was called by the trailing referee for elbowing behind the defensive net. Kuznetsov went bar down to the short side at 16:28 to make it 2-0. John Carlson and Justin Williams got the assists on Kuznetsov's 13th goal of the season.
Brayden Schenn, with a burr under his saddles to spark his team, got physical in the defensive zone with a couple of big hits and appeared to issue a fighting challenge that got turned down.
First period shots were 14-13 in the Flyers' favor.
The second period started at a more methodical pace than the first. At 3:58, Voracek made a perfect cross-ice pass to a pinching Provorov whose shot hit the crossbar and stayed out. The officials held up play for a review and the (correct) no-goal ruling was quickly reached.
"I saw it went up. I didn’t hear a sound so I thought it went in," Provorov said.
Holtby made a 10-bell save on Wayne Simmonds at the doorstep on a chance set up by Giroux. There was, however no stopping the next Flyers' scoring chance at 6:54. Manning made a nice keep at the point and snapped a shot on goal that deflected home by Schenn. The goal was credited somehow to Simmonds (who pointed at Schenn as he sat on the bench and saw himself on the Arenavision screen) but then correctly changed to Schenn's 19th of the season. Manning got the lone assist.
With 11:10 remaining in the period, a ruckus started near the Caps bench. Tom Wilson, Dmitry Orlov, Radko Gudas and Nick Cousins all got roughing minors.
Voracek made a great move around a defender and nearly scored around the 12:30 mark. Shots were 20-20 for the game at a TV timeout with 6:55 remaining in the middle stanza.
Giroux drew a hooking penalty on Zach Sanford -- the Flyers nearly scored on the delayed call -- as he was hooked down by at 15:23. The top unit blasted away several times but kept getting blocked or missing the net. Voracek (still on the secondary unit) ripped a shot on goal from the half boards with 17 seconds let.
A counterattack off a blocked shot resulted in a Kuznetsov shot deflecting off Gudas' stick and going through Neuvirth's five hole for Kuznetsov's second goal of the game (14th of the season) and a 3-1 lead for Washington. Justin Williams and Chorney got the assists at 17:59.
The Couturier line and Gostisbehere were turned aside on a nice-looking rush right before the buzzer at the end of the middle stanza. Shots were 10-9 for Washington (tied 23-23 overall).
Neuvirth made a stick save on Wilson in the opening minute of the third period to keep the deficit at two goals.
A long stoppage ensued due to a problem with the Washington net. Ovechkin received a slashing penalty at 6:14. Voracek was placed back on the first unit for this advantage. Holtby picked a long-range Giroux shot in the opening seconds. The Flyers won the next draw and Schenn put a puck through the crease. He then had one-timer chance. With the second unit out, Couturier wristed a routine shot on net. The first unit returned for the final 10 seconds.
Midway through the period, after a keep inside the blueline, a quick side-angle shot by Simmonds was knocked out of play at exactly the 10-minute mark.
At the 12:00 mark, with the Flyers having a lengthy offensive zone shift, Oshie (cross-checking) and Simmonds (roughing) went off on coincidental minors. Four-on-four play ensued. Provorov joined the rush, took a backhanded pass from Voracek and, from over the middle was denied by Holtby. The Flyers won the next draw got set up and Streit wristed a shot on goal.
Neuvirth was handcuffed by an Orlov shot but the puck went wide. On a 2-on-1 rush on the next shift, Neuvirth stopped Carlson, who elected to shoot with the pass well covered.
Holtby made several saves at one end and the Caps countered with Ovechkin taking the puck to the net. Neuvirth dived to thwart him but Oshie had a tap-in at 14:24 for his 24th goal of the season. Assists went to Ovechkin and Bäckström.
The goal was a backbreaker. Washington had a 2-on-1 rush and then Philly turned it over in their own zone. The Flyers had no pushback left in them.
Shots in the third period were 11-6 in the Flyers' favor (34-29 in the Flyers' favor overall).
The Flyers return to action on Saturday in their Stadium Series game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Heinz Field. Rain is in the forecast.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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