One down, fifteen to go...
John Carlson and Jay Beagle struck for the Capitals on Thursday night, and Braden Holtby stopped all 19 Philadelphia shots as Washington beat the Philadelphia Flyers 2-0 in Game One.
Marcus Johansson tallied two assists as he set up both goals for the Caps.
Going into the game tonight, everyone expected this to be a tough series and that came to light as the two teams combined for 36 penalty minutes.
The Flyers lost Sean Couturier for the rest of the series with a sprained shoulder after he took a nasty hit from Alex Ovechkin in the second. Wayne Simmonds was ejected from the game after a fight with Tom Wilson, following a boarding penalty about to be called on Wilson.
Steve Mason saw most of the action as the Caps fired 31 shots on goal. The Flyers were held to just 8 shots on goal in the second and third periods.
Game Two is Saturday at 7 at Verizon.
It was a tough game to get into until half-way through the second when the play began to pick up and both teams showed just how brutal the playoffs can be. Caps defenseman Brooks Orpik got his tooth knocked out by a Sam Gagner high stick in the third which lead to a 5-minute Capitals power play. The Flyers killed it off, but were unable to gain much momentum as the Washington forecheck kept Philadelphia from breaking out cleanly.
Ovechkin had 11 shot attempts but only 3 hit the net.
The Caps power play went 1-6 and killed all 4 of the Flyers man advantage.
It will certainly be a different game on Saturday as both teams will no doubt continue the aggressive play that followed the final buzzer. Brayden Schenn took a cheap shot at Karl Alzner which led to a small scrum at the end of the game. It's no secret these teams do not like each other, but to have them finally face-off in a post-season match-up playoff gold.
How did you like the Caps' play tonight?
Who will win Game Two on Saturday?
More to come...