Postgame 5: Flyers Conquer Caps in Shootout, 4-3

The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Washington Capitals in a shootout, 4-3 (2-1), at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. The Flyers extended their point streak to seven straight games (5-0-2) as they battled back from 2-1 and 3-2 deficits in regulation and then claimed the bonus point in the shootout.

Bobby Brink tallied in regulation for the Flyers before scoring the winning goal in the bottom of the third round in the shootout. Joel Farabee and Owen Tippett notched goals in the third period. Morgan Frost chipped in two assists on the night. Sean Couturier successfully converted his first-round shootout attempt into a goal. 

For Washington, Connor McMichael, Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome scored in regulation. TJ Oshie netted the Capitals' lone goal of the shootout.

Coming off a week-long road trip, the Flyers came out flat early in the game and struggled at times to navigate through Washington's layered defenses. The Flyers dug deep with the game on the line, however, and found a way to deliver.

A relatively uneventful first period was scoreless.  The Flyers took a 1-0 lead at 2:14 of the second period. Morgan Frost passed back to Marc Staal at the left point. Brink (5th goal of the season) tipped the puck and then scored on the rebound. The assists went to Staal and Frost.

Just 46 seconds later, at the 3:00 mark, the Capitals tied the score at 1-1. McMichael (6th) got open near the net and scored from the low slot. The assists went to Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha.

Washington took a 2-1 lead with a power play goal at 15:28 of the second period. Oshie passed from the right side to Strome along the goal line. Strome then attempted a shot and it went over to an open Wilson (PPG, 10th), who scored from the doorstep near the left post.

Philly drew even at 5:25 of the third period as Farabee (11th goal of the season) scored on a wraparound. The lone assist went to Ryan Poehling, who got the puck to Farabee down low. Cam Atkinson started the sequence on the forecheck behind the net but did not receive a point.

The Capitals scored a puck-luck goal at 9:05 of the third period. Protas broke his stick on a shot attempt from the deep slot and the puck turned into a "pass" to Strome (12th) at the doorstep. The secondary assist went to Wilson, who passed it to Strome.

Philly forged a 3-3 tie at 17:01 of the third period as Owen Tippett (10th) scored on a seeing-eye shot from high in the Washington zone through a screen by Travis Sanheim. Frost earned the lone assist.

Samuel Ersson got the start in goal for the Flyers. He stopped 27 of 30 shots in regulation and overtime and then went 2-for-3 in the shootout. For the Caps, Charlie Lindgren stopped 29 of 32 shots in regulation and overtime. The Washington goalie was 1-for-3 in the shootout.

The Flyers went 0-for-5 on the power play, including a two-man advantage late in the second period. The Capitals were 1-for-3.

With Carter Hart unavailable to play due to illness, the Flyers recalled Felix Sandström from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on an emergency basis to back up Ersson. Marc Staal re-entered the Flyers' starting lineup, replacing Egor Zamula.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
86 Joel Farabee - 21 Scott Laughton - 89 Cam Atkinson
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 10 Bobby Brink

44 Nick Deslauriers - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 26 Sean Walker

18 Marc Staal - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen

33 Samuel Ersson

[32 Felix Sandström]

TURNING POINT

The Farabee goal and Tippett's game-tying goal in the third period demonstrated the resilient nature of this year's Flyers team In the shootout:

Top of the 1st round: Mostly everyone in the arena, seemingly including Lindgren, expected Couturier to go back to his "Martin St. Louis move" with which he's scored both in penalty shot and shootout situations. Instead, Couturier used a quick shot release to surprise Lindgren and score.

Bottom of the 1st round: The deadly Oshie, one of the NHL's all-time best shootout performers, faked out Ersson, moved around the goalie and tucked the puck into the open side of the net. 

Top of the 2nd round: Foerster was denied by Lindgren on a diving stick save.

Bottom of the 2nd round: Strome was stopped on a nice pad save by Ersson.

Top of the 3rd round: Brink went around Lindgren's diving stick check attempt and tapped the puck into a half-open net.

Bottom of the 3rd round: Mantha was unable to get Ersson to commit and shot the puck wide of the right post to end the game. 

POSTGAME 5

1) Nineteen seconds in the first period, as the Flyers iced the puck, Hathaway was knocked down by a hard check from Joel Edmundson.  At 1:07, Martin Fehervary was called for holding. The Flyers went on the game's first power play. The Flyers didn't generate any shots on goal.

Through 5:43, the Flyers had the period's lone shot on net. Ersson was tested for the first time at 7:46 as he denied Connor McMichael from the left slot. 

At 9:24, Hathaway was called for checking to the head against Nic Dowd. With 33 seconds left in power play, Ovechkin ripped a one-timer on net from the left circle.

At 14:06, Ersson stopped an Edmundson point shot and an aerial rebound follow-up attempt by McMichael. 

Couturier was called for high-sticking John Carlson near the boards in the defensive zone at 17:52. Ersson stopped a pair of shots from Carlson from up high. TJ Oshie fired a puck over the net. The Flyers missed connections on a potential shorthanded 2-on-1. 

2) First period shots on goal were 7-2 Capitals. Shot attempts were 17-10 Washington. The Flyers blocked nine shot attempts by Washington, led by three from Staal. Scoring chances were 8-0 Washington per Natural Stat Trick. High-danger chances were 3-0 Capitals. Faceoffs were 9-6 Capitals (Dowd was 3-for-4 and Dylan Strome was 5-for-7).

3) After Brink and McMichael traded off early second period goals for their respective club, the Flyers went to their second power play on an Oshie tripping penalty at 3:08. On the ensuing man advantage, the Flyers had a pair of scoring chances. First, there was a scramble near the net. Later, Frost made a cross-seam feed to Foerster in his "office" at the top of the left circle. Lindgren denied Foerster's wrist shot.

Konecny came within a whisker of scoring a goal at 7:09. From behind the net, Frost centered a pass in front. Konecny was denied on a first attempt and then followed it up. The puck died along the goal line under Lindgren's leg. The goal was reviewed on video and the on-ice call correctly stood.

Through 9:02, second period shots were 7-3 Flyers.

Philly went to their third power play at 9:47 as Strome caught Poehling with a high stick along the boards in the Caps' defensive zone. Late in the Philadelphia power play, Ristolainen was unable to handle the puck up high, and Washington had a conterrush attempt shorthanded.

At 14:35,  Laughton was called for interference in the neutral zone. The Capitals' bottom-ranked power play cashed in on the Wilson goal.

The Laughton line generated a strong puck possession shift in the Caps' zone and eventually earned a power play. At 18:07, Atkinson was tripped by Edmundson behind the net. Philly went on a 45-second 5-on-3 at 19:21 on a hooking penalty on McMichael, The Flyers took seven seconds of 5-on-3 time into the third period.

4) Second period shots on goal were 12-11 Flyers (18-14 Capitals overall). Shot attempts were 21-16 Flyers (34-30 overall Capitals). Scoring chances in the second period were 9-8 Flyers (16-9 Capitals overall). HIgh-danger chances were 5-4 Caps (7-5 overall in Washington's favor). Through two periods, faceoffs were 23-14 Capitals (Down was 10-for-16, Strome was 9-for-13).

5)  At the 36 second mark of the third period, Frost had a prime chance from the bottom of the right circle. Later, Foerster had a look from the left circle off a cross-ice feed from Frost. Foerster also made a nice move at the blueline and set up a chance for York. The power play did not pot a goal, however, and the Flyers went to 0-for-5 on the night.

The Flyers made a line switch. Poehling moved up and Laughton moved down to the fourth line.

After the tying goal by Farabee, the Capitals made a push. The Strome goal that made it 3-2 Washington at 9:05 was bad luck. Philly found a way to pull even again on Tippett's 57-foot goal through Sanheim's screen. 

With just four seconds left in regulation, Konecny had a grade A chance from the slot but Lindgren made the save.

Third period shots on goal were 13-8 Flyers (29-26 Flyers overall). Shot attempts were 28-17 Flyers (60-53 Flyers overall through 60 minutes). Scoring chances were 17-8 Flyers (30-28 Flyers overall). High danger chances were 4-1 Flyers (11-11 overall). Faceoff through regulation were 31-30 in the Caps' favor (Couturier led the Flyers at 14-for-21). 

In overtime, Ersson made four additional saves. Lindgren stopped two additional Philly shots. Washington won both faceoffs in sudden death.

The best OT chance for Philly was an Atkinson breakaway that Lindgren denied at 2::15. With 46.7 seconds remaining in sudden death Ersson made a stop on Ovechkin to keep the game going.