Flyers Beat Capitals 2-1 (SO) in Broad Street Brawl

Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals fell to the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1 (SO) on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center. The loss dropped the Caps record to 54-16-6 (114 points). The Capitals will head for Denver tomorrow for their tilt against the Avalanche on Friday night. Puck-drop is 9:00 PM.

Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images

The starting lines for the Capitals:

Offensive Lines:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Johansson
Burakovsky-Backstrom-Williams
Chimera-Beagle-Wilson
Winnik-Richards-Oshie

Defensive Pairs
Alzner-Niskanen
Schmidt-Carlson
Orpik-Orlov

There was much confusion at the start of the game as to whether T.J. Oshie was playing or not, but ultimately, he was in.

Michael Latta, Stanislav Galiev and Mike Weber were the healthy scratches for tonight’s game. The goalie match-up, provided by @washcaps:

QUICK TAKES
A feisty, quick, but scoreless first period, as zone time and scoring chances were fairly even. Braden Holtby’s play in this game was reminiscent of early season games when Holtby would keep the Caps in a game, night after night. Nicklas Backstrom’s face-off woes continue, going 0 for 9 through the first two periods and 1 for 15 in the game. Team stats for the game can be found here: Player stats for the game can be found here: Face-off stats for the game can be found here: Photos can be found here:

The first five minutes of this game were a bit tentative, with very little in the way of scoring chances for either side. Shots on goal were even at 3-3 at the 7:00 mark, as the intensity and speed of the game picked-up midway through the opening frame. The Flyers had won seven of the game’s first nine face-offs at the 10-minute mark. Shots on goal were again even at 6-6 at the 12:00 mark. T.J. Oshie was called for tripping at 12:45, giving the Flyers the game’s first power play. The Flyers were able to generate a couple of medium-range shots on goal, but could not find the twine. The first period would end 0-0, with the Flyers leading in shots on goal 13-11. The Flyers won 63% of face-offs and outhit the Capitals, 12-8.

Ovechkin and Schultz each got roughing minors at the end of the first period, so the first two minutes of the middle frame was 4-on-4. The Flyers had a slight advantage in 4-on-4. Fairly even 5-on-5 play through the first half of the middle frame, with decent scoring chances for both teams, however the Flyers stretched their lead in shots on goal to 20-12 by the 7:00 mark of the middle period. The Caps picked up the offensive pressure around the 9:00 mark, which was initiated by a good shift by the third line. Braden Holtby made several nice stops, keeping the game scoreless. Alex Ovechkin started to show some signs of life in the second period, hitting a post and hustling to make a nice defensive stop:

The Capitals would go on their first power play with 24 seconds left in the second period, when Brandon Manning was called for hooking. The Caps would be unable to convert before the end of the second period, with the game remaining tied at 0-0. Flyers led in shots on goal 23-18 through two period of play.

The Capitals would capitalize on the remaining power play time to start the second period, as Evgeny Kuznetsov would find Alex Ovechkin for the games first goal at 1:28 of the final frame. This was Evgeny Kuznetsov’s first point in the last six games.