Capitals Crush Flyers 6-1, Take Commanding 3-0 Series Lead

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The Washington Capitals shot-down the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1 on Monday night at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. The win gives the Caps a commanding 3-0 series lead with game 4 set for Wednesday night in Philadelphia.

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

Michal Latta, Mike Weber, Stan Galiev and Taylor Chorney were the healthy scratches for tonight’s game. The goalie match-up for game 3, provided by @washcaps:

QUICK TAKES
The Capitals would revert to late-season tactics and yield a goal in the first minute of play, but this time the Caps would answer with a power-play goal by Marcus Johansson a few minutes later. The Caps would take their first lead of the game on an Ovechkin wrister, as the second period would end with the Caps leading 2-1. Brooks Orpik would leave the game in the second period as a result of a hit by the Flyers Ryan White. Evgeny Kuznetsov would stretch the Capitals lead to 3-1 early in the third period. The Caps would slam the door in the third period, adding goals by Ovechkin, Carlson and Beagle, finishing with a 6-1 victory. The Caps take a 3-0 series lead, the first 3-0 playoff series lead in franchise history. 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 for the game can be found here:

The Flyers struck quickly, as Michael Raffl knocked in a rebound just 57 seconds into the game.

The Flyers were whistled for the games’ first penalty, Simmonds for holding at 4:28, and the Caps would quickly capitalize. Marcus Johansson would tip-in a shot from the point by John Carlson at 4:43, tying the game at 1-1 early in the first period.

The @washcaps don’t like trailing, so they bounce right back with a goal of their own. #WSHvsPHI #StanleyCup https://t.co/tXRU7yCDVc

— #StanleyCup Playoffs (@NHL) April 18, 2016

The first period would end in a 1-1 tie. First period shot attempts: Flyers 23 (11 SOG 5 blocked 7 missed), Capitals 22 (7 SOG 11 blocked 4 missed).

The Capitals successfully killed the remainder of the Flyers power play to start the second period. The Flyers Radko Gudas was called for roughing at 2:48 of the middle frame, giving the Caps their third power play of the game, but the Caps would be unable to capitalize. The Caps began to gain a slight advantage in 5-on-5 play towards the middle of the second period. Alex Ovechkin would give the Caps their first lead at 8:50 of the middle frame on a nasty wrister from the right dot.

With a shot like @ovi8‘s, the puck finds a way to go in. #WSHvsPHI #StanleyCup https://t.co/vRdD69PcHQ

— #StanleyCup Playoffs (@NHL) April 19, 2016

Brooks Orpik would leave the game with 8 minutes left in the middle frame when he sustained a hit by the Flyers Ryan White, which resulted in Orik’s head bouncing off of the glass. Orpik would be helped from the ice by Caps head trainer Greg Smith.

The second period would end with the Caps leading 2-1. The Flyers led in shots on goal 23-14 after two periods of play.

Evgeny Kuznetsov would stretch the Caps lead to 3-1 at the 1:58 mark of the third period, knocking home a rebound that quieted the Philly crowd. Braden Holtby would get an assist.

Pucks bouncing the right way. #RockTheRed https://t.co/Qwyd8rI0IP

— #RockTheRed (@washcaps) April 19, 2016

John Carlson would add a power play goal at 7:37 of the final frame making it 4-1.

Alex Ovechkin would add a power play goal to stretch the Caps lead to 5-1 at the 14:58 mark of the final frame.

#Supreme1S #PlayExplosive @ovi8 pic.twitter.com/ywgkQ2rYOl

— Bauer Hockey (@BauerHockey) April 19, 2016

Jay Beagle would add a power play goal to make it 6-1 at 18:20 of the final frame. The Caps would hold on for the 6-1 win, taking a 3-0 series lead. Towards the end of the game, Philly fans began tossing objects on the ice, and at Caps players.