POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Caps 9, Flyers 2

Something To Remember Me By - With the Caps set to embark upon a five-game, 11-day road trip on Wednesday, Tuesday night's home game against the Philadelphia Flyers would be the Caps' last game in the District in nearly two weeks. They made sure the local fans got their fill, putting a 9-2 hurting on the Flyers.

Washington scored first and scored frequently, putting up multiple goals in all three periods while also limiting the opposition to two or fewer goals for the second straight game. Eight different players found the back of the net for the Caps, with only Lars Eller scoring twice. Each of the Caps' first four goals came from a different line.
Tuesday's triumph pushed the Capitals' winning streak to four, matching its longest winning spree of the season. The Caps won four in a row from Nov. 8-14 and did so again from March 11-18.
In each of those first two four-game winning streaks this season, the Caps totaled 17 goals. They've now netted 23 goals during the life of their current four-game run.
"We get a lot of our success from playing a complete game," says Caps right wing T.J. Oshie, who notched his ninth of the season in the first period of Tuesday's game. "They end up in goals and you're like, 'Wow, they're really scoring.'' But really a lot of the other areas of the ice are going very well for us.
"We're breaking out of the [defensive] zone as a group of five. We've got a lot of guys putting their bodies on the line, blocking shots and keeping pucks out of our net, keeping second scoring chances from getting to the net. All that stuff translates and moves up the ice, to our neutral zone puck decisions and to our forecheck. Eventually, it ends up in a goal, but there's so much more than just the end result, with the effort that the guys are putting in in all facets of the game. We're trending in the right way and we're learning what we need to do as players to have success on the ice."
Nine of the Caps' previous 15 games had been decided by a single goal, so having a game where the outcome wasn't in doubt was a welcome change for Washington. Tuesday's game marked the Capitals' biggest offensive outburst - at home or on the road - since they put a 10-2 beating on the Boston Bruins here on March 3, 2008.
"More importantly for us right now than wins is how we play the game," says Oshie. "With Philly's record, you would maybe think that we would take it a little bit lightly, but they've played us really well this year; they've beat us twice. And they were very physical in those games and had a really good forecheck and worked hard against us.
"I don't think anyone in there was taking it lightly. I know the score was 9-2, but we came downtown here to play a game and play hard, and it didn't matter who we're playing against, and that's very important for us going forward. It doesn't matter what happens or who we're playing, or if guys make mistakes or of guys don't. We have a new standard that we've set recently here that we have to live up to each night."
Point Breeze - Sixteen different skaters recorded at least a point in Tuesday's game for Washington. It's the fifth time in franchise history the Caps have achieved that feat, and the first time they've done so since an 8-1 win over the Thrashers in Atlanta on Jan. 9, 2010.
Both Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom were among the point-getters for Washington on Tuesday night and in that game in Atlanta over a dozen years ago.
Fifty Mission Cap -John Carlson notched his 50th assist of the season on Oshie's goal in the first period. Carlson has reached the 50-assist plateau for the fourth time in his NHL career, the most ever by any defenseman in Caps' franchise history.
Carlson becomes the 17th defenseman in NHL history to record as many as four seasons with 50 or more assists. Among all active NHL defensemen, only San Jose's Erik Karlsson (five) has more seasons with 50 or more helpers.
The Great Eight Update - Ovechkin scored Washington's first goal of the game, the 131st time he has scored the game's first goal. That ties him with Brett Hull (131) for second place on the NHL's all-time list, trailing only Jaromir Jagr (135).
Tuesday's goal was Ovechkin's 46th of the season and the 776th of his NHL career. That goal moves him to within two of Teemu Selanne for the most goals in a season for a played aged 36 or older; Selanne had 48 goals at the age of 36 with Anaheim in 2006-07.
Ovechkin is also four goals shy of reaching the 50-goal plateau for the ninth time in his NHL career, which would tie him for the most 50-goal seasons in NHL history.
First Glimmer - Slotting in for an ailing Dmitry Orlov (lower body), Caps defenseman - and proud new papa - Matt Irwin notched his first goal as a member of the Capitals early in the third period. It was also Irwin's first NHL goal in a span of 108 games, since he netted one in Vancouver on Dec. 6, 2018 while skating for Nashville.
Irwin's goal unleashed his "goal song," the 1975 hit from Hot Chocolate, "You Sexy Thing," to the delight of all, including Irwin himself.
"I did hear it; I had a good laugh," says Irwin. "I didn't think they'd actually put it on, to be honest. But I'll take it."
Late in the third, Johan Larsson closed out the scoring with his first goal as a member of the Capitals. Larsson's goal came on the power play, the only one of Washington's nine goals that was not scored at even strength.
Blueline Bonanza - Justin Schultz picked up three assists in the third period of Tuesday's game, becoming the third different Caps defenseman to record three points in a single frame in just over a month.
On March 8 in Calgary, Nick Jensen had three assists in the third in a 5-4 win over the Flames, and Carlson had three points (goal, two assists) in the first period of the Caps' 4-3 win over Tampa Bay on April 6.
Rookie Caps defenseman Martin Fehervary scored a beauty of a goal in the first period, and it turned out to be the game-winner. Fehervary now has three goals in his last four games, and he has scored eight goals this season, becoming the sixth rookie Caps defenseman to score eight or more in a season, and the first since Ken Klee in 1995-96. Several of Klee's goals that season were scored while he was playing right wing; Washington's defensive depth was so strong in those days that both Klee and Jim Johnson were regulars as wingers on the team's fourth line.
By The Numbers - Each of Washington's 18 skaters finished the night with a "plus" next to his name … Jensen led the Caps with 19:50 in ice time … Eller led the Caps with five shots on net and Ovechkin led Washington with 11 shot attempts … Fehervary led the Caps with four hits … Oshie led the Caps with three blocked shots … Nic Dowd won 11 of 15 face-offs (73 percent).