Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images
The Capitals took game one of their opening round series against the Flyers, notching a 2-0 victory on home ice at Verizon Center. The two teams will be back at it on Saturday night. Puck-drop is 7:00 PM.
The starting lines for the Capitals
Offensive Lines:
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Oshie
Burakovsky-Kuznetsov-Williams
Chimera-Richards-Johansson
Winnik-Beagle-Wilson
Defensive Pairs:
Orpik-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Orlov-Schmidt
Michael Latta, Taylor Chorney, Stanislav Galiev and Mike Weber were the healthy scratches for game one. The goalie match-up for game one, provided by @washcaps:
QUICK TAKES
A fairly positive first period for the Capitals in that they were called for the game’s first three penalties and did not allow a goal. The Caps would go 0-2 for their first two power plays in the second period, but would finally score on their third power play of the game, a slapshot from the point that bounced its way through traffic at 16:21 of the middle frame. Jay Beagle would add an insurance goal late in the third to seal the 2-0 victory for the Caps. The Caps power play showed some signs of life tonight, but on other occasions would revert to being a bit sloppy. Still some work to do in this area. Team stats for the game can be found here: Player stats for the game can be found here: Face-off summary for the game can be found here: Photos for the game can be found here:
A physical first five minutes, as to be expected, with an early offensive advantage for the Capitals. John Carlson was called for the game’s first penalty for hooking Jakub Voracek, giving the Flyers the game’s first power play at 3:30 of the first period. The Capitals did a pretty good job of killing the penalty, only allowing two shots on goal, with no damages done. Brooks Orpik was called for an illegal check to the head at 7:50 of the opening frame, yielding a second power play to the Flyers. The Flyers had decent pressure during the first minute of the man-advantage, but the Caps would then lock it down, and kill the penalty. The flyers led in shots on goal 6-2 midway through the first period. The Caps began to ratchet-up the offensive pressure in the latter half of the period. Brooks Orpik was called for interference at 14:14, giving the Flyers their third power play of the opening frame, but the Caps penalty kill unit would be strong once again ,allowing no damages. The first period would end 0-0. The Flyers led in shots-on-goal, 11-8.
The Flyers would be called for hooking at 2:57 into the second period, giving the Caps their first power play of the game. The Caps had fairly decent zone time and a couple of good looks, but could not capitalize, generating three shots on goal. The Caps continued to hold a slight advantage in 5-on-5 play in the early stages of the middle frame. Dmitry Orlov was called for tripping at 8:50, giving the Flyers their fourth power play of the game. The Caps penalty kill would once again answer the call, allowing two shots on goal, neither of which would find the back of the net. To this point the Flyers had 7 shots on goal on their 4 power plays. 5 shots 5-on-5 play for the game. The Flyers would be whistled for charging, their second penalty of the game at 13:28. Once again the Caps showed improved movement of the puck in the zone, with several quality chances, but no paydirt. The Flyers would be called for delay of game at 16:02, giving the Caps their third power play of the game, and this time the Caps would Capitals, as John Carlson would knock one in from the point at 16:21 of the middle frame.
John Carlson gives the #Caps the 1-0 lead #PHIvsWSH pic.twitter.com/71yKBtfKFh
— Marina Molnar (@mkmolnar) April 15, 2016
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The second period would end with the Caps leading 1-0. The Capitals led in shots on goal 22-15 through the first two periods of play.
The Flyers were called for too many men on the ice at the 2:30 mark of the final frame. Once again the Caps power play looked improved from the previous weeks efforts, however the Caps would be unable to knock one home. The Flyers would be called for a double minor for high-sticking at 5:28, giving the Caps four minutes in the man-advantage. The first 1:30 of the power play was a bit disjointed, resembling efforts from previous games. The remaining time was better controlled, but would still yield zero results. Tom Wilson and Wayne Simmonds would drop the gloves at 13:09 of the final frame.
Jay Beagle would another tally for the Caps at 16:36 to stretch the Caps lead to 2-0.
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The Caps would hold on for the 2-0 win, to take a 1-0 series lead.
