Capitals score 5 straight, rally to defeat Flyers
Strome has 3 points, Washington gets 5th win in 7 games
By
Harvey Valentine
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
Alex Ovechkin scored his 17th goal of the season for the Capitals (28-22-9), who are four points behind the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division and five behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. Hendrix Lapierre, Tom Wilson and Max Pacioretty each had two assists, and Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves in Washington's fifth win in its past seven games.
“We didn't want to put too much pressure on ourselves, but at the same time it did feel like kind of a must-win game,” Lindgren said. “It's a big-time character win. Just feels amazing and obviously got to park it. We're still trying to climb up the standings here and we’ve got a big game on Sunday [against the Arizona Coyotes] as well.”
Owen Tippett had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (31-23-7), who have lost three of four. Morgan Frost had two assists, and Samuel Ersson made 16 saves.
“Not enough from our offensive guys,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “I know we give up five goals, but it’s not enough from our offensive guys. We’ve got to get some guys untracked.”
Bobby Brink gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at 1:52 of the first period. Lindgren made a sprawling save against Frost on a 2-on-1, and Brink knocked the rebound into an open net.
Tippett increased the lead to 2-0 with a power-play goal at 18:23, scoring on a wrist shot through a screen from the left circle off a pass from Egor Zamula.
“I’m just trying to simplify things and when chances are there kind of jump on them and take them,” Tippett said.
Washington was outshot 11-5 in the period.
“We just were nowhere near where we needed to be and what we’re capable of being at,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “And it was easy stuff. We showed a few things that we had talked about structurally that were easy fixes, but we just weren’t skating. We just did not have the pace, the speed. We couldn’t win a loose puck. We couldn’t get through the neutral zone.”
Ovechkin pulled the Capitals within 2-1 at 4:34 of the second period. After a face-off in the left circle, Wilson pushed the puck to Ovechkin, who scored on a wrist shot from inside the circle.
“It was such a big goal,” Lindgren said. “I mean that obviously got us going, got a lot of momentum off that. That's a big-time player scoring a big-time goal and that's why he's our leader. I think we certainly followed his lead after that.”
Sonny Milano tied it 2-2 at 9:55, lifting the puck over Ersson’s left shoulder from the slot after a pass from Pacioretty.
John Carlson gave the Capitals a 3-2 lead at 15:45. He secured a rebound behind the net and scored on a wraparound.
“In the first period, we didn't play at all, didn't play our game,” said Ovechkin, the Washington captain. “I think they outchanced us, outhit us and win all the battles. I think (in the second period) we start the right way, we play simple, we set the tone right away and we see the result.”
Anthony Mantha pushed it to 4-2 at 6:04 of the third period, scoring a power-play goal on a one-timer from the slot off Strome’s pass from behind the net.
Strome made it 5-2 at 15:38, finishing on the rebound of Pacioretty’s shot.
“Well, I think they get some momentum off their face-off goal,” Tortorella said. “I think they start checking a little bit better. After the first period, the second and third periods I just don’t think we developed a whole bunch offensively.”
NOTES: Ovechkin became the NHL’s all-time leading goal-scorer in the month of March (145), passing Wayne Gretzky. … Strome has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in his past 14 games. … Lapierre has five points (three goals, two assists) in three games since being recalled from Hershey of the American Hockey League. … Ersson became the 173rd goalie to be scored on by Ovechkin. … Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway, who played 257 games with the Capitals before being traded to the Boston Bruins on Feb. 23, 2023, played 14:01 and had a game-high seven hits in his first game back at Capital One Arena. … Linesman Trent Knorr (illness) left in the first period; the game continued with two referees and one linesman.
