Hello All,

The Washington Capitals capped off a perfect week of hockey with another win over the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals beat the Flyers three times in seven days this week, all in regulation. The Capitals are streaking, and the Flyers are sinking.

Here are the stats from the game:


Shots on Goal:

WSH – 23

PHI – 32


Shots on Goal (5v5):

WSH – 19

PHI – 28


Faceoff %:

WSH – 46%

PHI – 54%


Power Play:

WSH – 1/2

PHI – 1/3


Hits:

WSH – 17

PHI - 28


Blocks:

WSH – 19

PHI – 12



Corsi For:

WSH – 45

PHI – 64



Corsi For (5v5):

WSH – 35

PHI – 48


Scoring Chances For:

WSH – 21

PHI – 24



Scoring Chances For (5v5):

WSH – 14

PHI – 19


High Danger Chances For:

WSH – 7

PHI – 11


High Danger Chances For: (5v5):

WSH – 4

PHI – 8

Giveaways:

WSH - 9

PHI - 8


My Takeaways from the Game:

Brian Elliott – If you look at the stats, the Flyers pretty much held the advantage in every major statistical category. However, it was the Flyers who found themselves down 2-0, 4-2, and 5-2 at various points in the game. In the first period Brian Elliott looked shaky. In my opinion he was having trouble positioning himself in the net, handling loose pucks, and overall, he just didn’t look very confident tonight. Elliott gave up 3 goals on 10 shots in 21:04 TOI before being replaced by Carter Hart. You know you had a bad night when you are pulled after three goals in a 3-1 game and are replaced by the struggling Carter Hart. Here is a breakdown of Elliott’s saves:

6/6 saves for “low danger chances”

0/1 saves for “medium danger chances”

1/3 saves for “high danger chances”

He had two registered rebound shots against

Elliott just was not very good tonight. Credit the Capitals for coming out strong in the first period. They were able to get pucks in deep and get increased zone time in the Flyers end. The Caps scored a couple goals tonight after the Flyers failed to clear the zone.

Third Period Leads – The Capitals almost blew another three goal in the third period today. The Flyers scored on the power play with 6:53 left to make it 5-3. Claude Giroux scored with the extra man with 2:57 left to make it 5-4. The Flyers had a couple chances with the additional 6 on 5 for the remaining of the period. Travis Konecny had a golden opportunity with 1:51 left in the game that barely trickled wide of the open net. Ultimately it was again too little too late for the Flyers and it was the Capitals who held on for the regulation win. The Capitals need to be better about holding on to and protecting late game leads.

The Capitals Brand of Hockey – The Capitals are streaking right now. If we are talking about the Capitals brand of hockey. It’s tough. Its physical, it’s in your face. The Capitals get pucks in deep and bring relentless pressure. Defensively the Capitals use a left wing lock system and more of a neutral zone trap game. The Capitals load up the neutral zone and apply constant pressure. All week the Flyers struggled mightily against this and even Alaine Vigneault admitted in his presser after the game on Thursday that the Capitals pressure was creating issues for his team. The first Capitals goal today was created off a turnover from the neutral zone pressure. The goal ultimately could have been avoided by Elliott but credit the Capitals for creating the scoring chance.

Daniel Sprong Filling in for Tom Wilson – With the Tom Wilson suspension, Sprong has been sprung back into the lineup and has delivered tremendously. I think I speak for all Caps fans when I say give this guy more ice time! Since being inserted back into the Capitals rotation, Sprong has scored three points in four games played (2G-1A). He had a couple bad plays tonight, one of which was a failed clear that directly resulted in a goal. Overall I like where Sprong’s game is right now and I hope he continues to get ice time even when Tom Wilson returns.

Other stats and facts from the game:

-Ovechkin scored his 10th goal of the season and 716th for his career. This was also his 263rd power play goal. He is now two behind Brett Hull for 2nd most in NHL history and he only sits 11 behind Dave Andreychuk for most power play goals of all-time. Ovechkin now sits just one goal behind Phil Esposito for 6th all-time in goals scored. Seriously…just soak that in.

-The Capitals are 11-2-1 (23 points) since February 16th. This is tied with NYI for most points and wins during that span

-Garnett Hathaway had a stellar game. He had two assists and six hits. He has 82 hits on the season and that leads the team.

-Ilya Samsonov has yet to lose in regulation this season (5-0-1).

Overall, I thought the Capitals played a sound game today. The Flyers were the better team from the second period on, but once again it never really felt like they were really threatening. The Flyers improved on their high danger chances today and had eight high danger chances at 5v5 compared to just one last game. The Capitals took advantage of a struggling Brian Elliott early and the game and capitalized on the scoring opportunities they had. This ended up being the difference tonight. In three games against the Flyers this week the Capitals were generally the better team at 5v5, they had more consistent goaltending, and generated more high danger scoring chances. That will generally win you more games more often than not.

Next up the Capitals head to Buffalo to play the Sabres on Monday 03/15 at 7pm ET. The Caps will look to extend their winning streak to five games.

That is all, thanks for reading and GO CAPS!

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