Caps Fall to Philly, 7-4

Washington's top forward trio and its penalty-killing outfit were at the top of their respective games on Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena, but it wasn't enough to overcome an opportunistic Flyers squad that netted seven goals - the last one an empty-netter - on just 23 shots on net. In the end, the Caps fell by a field goal, 7-4 to Philadelphia on Super Bowl Sunday.

Scott Laughton's first career hat trick accounted for the difference on the scoreboard at afternoon's end.
"It's nice to get rewarded and go to the net and have that happen," says Laughton. "It's just a good feeling to help contribute."
The Caps poured 37 pucks on the Philadelphia net on Sunday, matching their single-game season high. But the Flyers were more economical, particularly in the second period when they scored three times on six shots, even while the Caps' penalty-killing unit was spotless in two middle-frame missions.
"We let in too many goals tonight," states Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "We scored enough to win. I thought we generated enough chances; I thought we could have scored more. There were a few that didn't bounce our way. I don't think it was a barrage coming at us defensively, but they capitalized on the chances that they did get."
Playing with another different patchwork lineup, the Caps put together a strong start and were able to forge a two-goal lead for themselves. Taking advantage of the game's first power play when the Flyers were deemed guilty of having too many dudes on the ice, Washington took a 1-0 lead on Ovechkin's first power-play goal of the season at 11:11 of the first.
Lars Eller gained entry into the Flyers' zone, leaving the puck up high for Tom Wilson, who went cross-ice for Ovechkin. The Caps captain fired a precision wrister to the far corner to put his team on top.

Some five and a half minutes later, the Caps doubled that advantage on a beauty of a goal from the top line. Ovechkin carried into the Philly zone and skirted his way around Flyers defenseman Philippe Myers. From the goal line on the left side, Ovechkin issued a backhand feed to the front for Wilson, who scored into the yawning cage at 16:36.
Before the end of the first, Philly was able to carve into the Caps' advantage when Laughton put back an Erik Gustafsson shot that bounded off the iron at 18:33. Less than 90 seconds from getting to the room with a two-goal lead, the Caps had to settle for a one-goal advantage.
Laughton netted his second of the game early in the second - and his second in under four minutes of playing time - to square the score at 2-2. A Dmitry Orlov turnover high in Philly ice came back on the Caps, and Laughton was able to score from a tight angle when Caps goalie Vitek Vanecek took himself slightly out of position when he tried to use his paddle to swat it away.
The Caps wasted little time in regaining the lead. Six seconds after his one-time bid from center point knocked the stick out of Philly defenseman Robert Hagg's hands, Ovechkin put his team back on top when his retry got through Flyers goalie Carter Hart at 4:08 of the middle period, putting Washington back up at 3-2.
Hagg knotted the score with a goal of his own less than four minutes later, scoring off the rush. Nicolas Aube-Kubel put it on a tee for Hagg, who scored on a one-timer from the high slot at 7:50 as the late guy into the zone, making it 3-3.
Philly took its first lead of the afternoon at 16:26 of the third. An Ovechkin slapshot try missed wide - Myers got a piece of it -- and rolled around the glass and all the way into Washington ice where James van Riemsdyk got to it first, near the top of the left circle. Van Riemsdyk tucked the rolling puck into the far corner of the cage, giving the Flyers a 4-3 lead and leading to Vanecek's removal; he was hooked in favor of veteran Craig Anderson who came on in relief in his Washington debut.
Washington's top trio once again answered the bell, getting the game even in the final minute of the middle frame on another pretty passing sequence. From the right point, Wilson went cross ice to Ovechkin at the top of the left circle. From there, the captain spotted Backstrom down low and quickly fed him. Backstrom put a backhander behind Hart to make it a 4-4 game with 56.1 seconds left in the second, but this would be as good as it would get the rest of the way.
Philadelphia won the draw to start the third and promptly went to work in the offensive zone. The Flyers put together a possession shift that culminated in a Sean Couturier strike from the slot just 31 seconds into the frame, giving the Flyers a lead they would maintain the rest of the way.
"We were feeling good," says Caps defenseman Brenden Dillon. "We score one there at the end of the second to make it an even game, and our top line was great again tonight. They were our best line for sure.
"I think it was again those timely starts of a period. We know we've got to be better on those, whether it's getting pucks out or defending and blocking a shot. Those are big parts of the game that we've got to bear down on."

The Caps killed off a double-minor to Zdeno Chara early in the third, and they were pressing for the equalizer when Laughton finished his hat trick, beating Anderson from in tight on a rebound of a Joel Farabee shot with 2:09 remaining. Couturier's empty-netter accounted for the 7-4 final.
"It definitely wasn't the way that we wanted," says Flyers coach Alain Vigneault of his team's victory. "That top line [of Washington's] is tough to handle, and we had our hands full, but every game unfolds differently, and I liked our response tonight."
Philly let third-period leads slip away in each of its last two games - both losses to Boston - but it was determined to button down tightly with its advantage over the Caps in the final frame on Sunday.
"I think we collapsed a little bit better, tying up sticks and not allowing them second chances," says Laughton. "I still think we can do a little bit better job of playing forward and north and playing with the puck and going after them when we have leads and making it hard on them to exit their zone and not sitting back."
For the Caps, it was a third straight loss in another game with a depleted lineup.
"You know, it's funny," muses Laviolette. "The first nine games, we collected a lot of points and I kept saying, 'We've got to be a lot better with our game with what we're doing.'
"Right now, there's a lot of good things that we're doing with our game and the points aren't coming. And so, you just stick with it and work on the process and continue to try and get better with some good things that we've done. In the end, I think you're going to build a game that's capable of being successful in the long run."