Philadelphia Flyers defeat NHL leading Washington Capitals
On the weekend the top two teams in the National Hockey League’s Eastern Conference faced off in Washington D.C. The Washington Capitals entered the game in first place with 29 points,
while the second place Philadelphia Flyers were hot on their heals with 26 points. After 65 minutes of hockey, the Flyers were victorious 5-4 in the shootout.
A sell out crowd of 18,398 filled Washington’s Verizon Center for this highly anticipated game. The Capitals
came home to D.C. after a Friday 19 November loss to the Thrashers in Atlanta, while the Flyers were coming off an 8-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday 18 November.
To start the game the Capitals fired a handful of shots off the goalposts behind Flyers goalie Brian Boucher before they righted their aim. Rookie centre Marcus Johansson scored the first
goal when he took a nice pass from Jason Chimera and fired a wrist shot past Boucher.
Washington’s 1-0 lead held until the 13:11 mark of the second period. The Flyers were on a power play when defenceman Chris Pronger fired a shot toward the net that deflected off the pants
of Claude Giroux and found its way by Washington goaltender Michal Neuvirth to tie the score.
The Flyers took the lead later in the second period when Neuvirth left a big rebound from a Scott Hartnell shot next to his net. Flyers captain Mike Richards swooped in, gathered the puck
and fired it past a diving Neuvirth.
There was no additional scoring in the second period after Richards’ ninth goal of the season. The teams skated off the ice at the end of the period with the Flyers leading 2-1. Philadelphia’s
record this year when leading after two periods was 11-0 entering this game.
Jeff Carter gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead with an impressive individual effort. Carter changed speed inside the Capitals zone and shook off Washington defender Mike Green and then fired a
snapshot behind Neuvirth who was being screened by the Flyers’ Jody Shelley.
The Capitals were on a power play when Nicklas Backstrom made it 3-2. Backstrom came up with the puck during a scrum in front of the Philadelphia net and used a wrist shot from just outside
Boucher’s crease to score the goal.
Washington went right back on the power play after the Backstrom goal when the Flyers’ Richards was called for a slash. The Capitals scored 28 seconds into the power play when Chimera
hacked away at a puck beside the net and forced it behind Boucher to tie the score at three.
Andreas Nodl put the Flyers back on top with a spinning backhand shot from in front of the Washington net at the 13:53 mark of the period.
With time ticking down the Capitals found themselves on the power play. With less than a minute left in regulation, the Capitals pulled Neuvirth from the net and were skating 6-4 when
Eric Fehr fired a slap shot into the back of the Philadelphia goal, forcing overtime.
Neither team was able to score during the ensuing five minute overtime period and the game went to the shoot out. Boucher held off Backstrom and Alexander Ovehckin before Danny Briere
was able to beat Neuvirth. Boucher held his ground against the Capitals’ final shooter, Alexander Semin, and the Flyers left Washington with the win, tying the season series at 1-1.
The win moved the Flyers to 13-6, while the Capitals dropped to 14-5 with the loss, their second loss in a row.
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