Len Redkoles/NHLI via Getty Images
The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 2-1 on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center. The win staved-off elimination for the Flyers, and won them a trip south down I-95 for another tilt against the Caps on Friday night at Verizon Center. 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 pairings:
Alzner-Niskanen
Schmidt-Carlson
Orlov-Chorney
Brooks Orpik missed the game due to an upper body injury he sustained in game 3. Taylor Chorney replaced Orpik on the back-end.
Michael Latta, Stan Galiev and Mike Weber were the healthy scratches for game 4. The goalie match-up for game 4, provided by @washcaps:
QUICK TAKES
The Capitals would get off to another slothy start, giving-up the game’s first goal, 5:51 into the first period. Ten minutes into the game, the Caps had only 2 shots on goal. The first period would end with the Flyers leading 12-10 in SOG. The Flyers would stretch their lead to 2-0 on another shot from outside. T.J. Oshie would knock-home a greasy one early in the third period to make it a one goal game. The Capitals would control the third period but could never notch the tying goal, as the Flyers held on for the 2-1 win. Team stats for the game can be found here: Player stats for the game can be found here: Face-off summary can be found here: Photos for the game can be found here:
Game 4 started with a furious pace, as each team would clank one off the pipe in the first minute of play. Taylor Chorney was whistled for the game’s first penalty, cross-checking at the 5:03 mark. The Flyers would score for first time on a power play in the series on a shot from the point by Shayne Gostisbehere at 5:51 of the opening frame.
Well happy birthday to you, 👻🐻. #StanleyCup #WSHvsPHIhttps://t.co/HqGGXcEjrF
— #StanleyCup Playoffs (@NHL) April 20, 2016
The Caps utilized the coaches challenge claiming goalie interference on Wayne Simmonds, however the call on the ice was upheld, giving the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
After 15 minutes of play, the Flyers led in shots on goal 11-4. The Flyers Scott Laughton would leave the game on a stretcher after a viscous slide into the boards towards the end of the first period.
The play that took out #Flyers Scott Laughton. #wasvsphi pic.twitter.com/CPTXoqWSzS
— Lauren Joffe (@thespinzone) April 20, 2016
The first period would end with the Flyers leading 1-0, the Flyers first lead after any period in the series. The Flyers led in shots on goal, 12-10 after 20 minutes of play.
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
A rather even, and relatively calm start to the second period. The Flyers would strike again on a blast from the blue line by Andrew MacDonald at 3:51 of the middle frame, giving the Flyers a 2-0 lead.
Another blast from the point and the @NHLFlyers‘ lead is doubled. #WSHvsPHI #StanleyCuphttps://t.co/p5p58RVjIs
— #StanleyCup Playoffs (@NHL) April 21, 2016
The Caps would get their first power play at 14:31 of the second period, however the Caps would be unable to muster much in the way of chances, and ultimately come up empty. Nicklas Backstrom would be called for holding at 17:48 of the second period, giving the Flyers their second power play of the game, however, 28 seconds later the Flyers would negate their man-advantage when Jakub Voracek was called for holding at 18:16 in the middle frame. The second period would end with the Flyers leading 2-0. The Flyers led in shots on goal 21-19 after two periods of play.
T.J. Oshie would get the Caps on the board at 2:38 of the final period to cut the Flyers lead in half.
Oshie’s 1st of the #CapsPlayoffs gets them on the board in the third. #CapsFlyers #RockTheRedhttps://t.co/Fmsp3hczWm
— #RockTheRed (@washcaps) April 21, 2016
The crowd watching the game at Verizon Center would finally have something to cheer about.
The Caps continued to take control of the game, buzzing with numerous quality chances, but just couldn’t net the tying goal. The Flyers would hang on to win 2-1. The Caps lead the series 3-1, heading back to DC.
