Caps Face Philly Again
Caps finish home-and-home set with Flyers on Saturday in DC
The Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers finish up a home-and-home set of games on Saturday night in the District. Philly took the front end of the set on Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center, grabbing an early lead and never trailing in a 5-3 victory over Washington.
Saturday's game is the finale of the 2022-23 season's series between the two longtime rivals; the Caps won each of the first two meetings, taking the first in a 3-2 shootout win here in Washington on Nov. 23 and defeating the Flyers 4-1 in Philly on Dec. 7.
Beginning with that Nov. 23 victory over the Flyers, the Caps are now 16-5-3 in their last 24 games. But in the shorter term, the Caps haven't been able to cobble together consecutive victories since their five-game winning streak ended in a 4-3 overtime loss to Ottawa on Dec. 29. Since defeating the Rangers in New York on Dec. 27, the Caps are 3-2-2 in their last seven games, weaving losses between wins and failing to get points from their last two setbacks.
This past week, the Caps added Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson back into their lineup after each missed the first half of the '22-23 regular season while recovering and rehabbing from offseason surgeries. The two veteran forwards debuted in Sunday's game against Columbus - a 1-0 victory - and played their second game on Wednesday in Philly.
Peter Laviolette and the Caps' coaching staff are still seeking the best fits for reconfigured line combinations, and with Backstrom and Wilson still ramping up to speed with their timing and other elements of their game, Washington's last couple of outings have lacked the crispness and consistency of the weeks before, and they've had to defend more than they'd like.
"Listen, I think we've got to play better than in our last two games," says Laviolette. "I've said that. That's the game we've got to play [Saturday] in order to be successful. We've got to dictate a little more with what we're doing out on the ice.
"Defensively, we've just been okay. We've let up some odd man rushes and some partial breakaways and stuff like that, I just think we can be better."
Trailing 2-1 going into the third period of Wednesday's game, the Caps had a terrific first shift that generated a trio of excellent scoring chances, but they missed the net on all three. By the time the period was seven and a half minutes old, Philadelphia's lead was 4-1. The Caps pulled to within a goal, but they fell 5-3 when Flyers forward Travis Konecny filled his hat trick with an empty-net goal in the game's final seconds. It was Washington's first loss by more than a single goal since a 5-2 loss to the Flames in Calgary on Dec. 3 of last year.
"At the beginning [of the third] and at the end, there was chances there," says Laviolette, "But we did enough to hurt ourselves too, whether it was anything 5-on-5, specialty teams, penalties, discipline. We did enough to inflict some damage on ourselves."
The Caps faced five Philadelphia power plays, an uncharacteristic number for a normally disciplined Washington team that has faced as many as five shorthanded situations only three times in its last 34 games. The Flyers scored twice on the power play - including Konecny's late empty-netter - but Philly also scored a shorthanded goal on the Caps' lone power play of the evening.
Washington's third period on Wednesday was likely the best of the six periods it has played since Backstrom and Wilson's return, and the former assisted on T.J. Oshie's goal late in the third period, collecting his first point of the season.
"I don't know if we can put too much on that, really," said Oshie, of the new line combinations. "I think most of these guys have been playing at a pretty high level for about a month and half here. You are bound to have just a little lull here at times when you are winning games. I feel like other teams elevate their game a little bit, and they are on a little bit of a run here of finding success. We definitely have to be sharper, but they came at us pretty good [Wednesday]."
Now the Caps get a do-over against the Flyers after a day off on Thursday and a full team practice on Friday.
Philadelphia's win over Washington was its sixth victory in its last seven games, the hottest the Flyers have been this season. Philly's surge has pulled it to within seven points of the second and final wild card playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, but the Flyers must also claw their way over and past six other teams in order to reach that spot.
"I think we take it day-by-day and continue to work on our game," says Flyers center Scott Laughton. "Get better. We can't really focus on that right now. Work on what we can control, and continue to get better at our game.
"I think our offensive game has come a long way. We still need to get better, but we battled and found a way [Wednesday]. Another big game against Washington [on Saturday], and a big month for us coming up."
