Hathaway's two late goals lift Capitals past Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Garnet Hathaway scored two goals 1:45 apart late in the third period to lift the Washington Capitals to a 5-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.

Hathaway tied it 3-3 at 17:03 when he redirected a shot from John Carlson. He then made it 4-3 at 18:48 on a one-timer in the slot following a turnover behind the net by Ivan Provorov.
Carlson shot into an empty net with 49 seconds remaining for the 5-3 final.
"I think if you look at the string of games we've been having lately, it's a special one," said Hathaway, who had an assist. "We've a break between games, we've got a week between games right now (play at the New York Rangers on Feb. 24), and we wanted to come out and have a game that we could look back on during the break and say, 'That was great. Lets continue to build off that.' And up until the third, I don't think we were happy with it."

Michal Kempny scored his first goal of the season for the Capitals (28-15-9), who have won three of four. Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves.
"The second period wasn't good, we didn't generate anything, we didn't bring anything to the net, we had no attack to our game," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "I thought we were better in the third period. ... We were able to put some pressure on at the end and score some goals."
Gerry Mayhew scored two goals, and Travis Sanheim had a goal and an assist for the Flyers (15-25-9), who have lost four straight (0-3-1). Martin Jones made 20 saves.
"We just have some breakdowns late in the game," Jones said. "It's frustrating because we did a lot of the right things during the course of the game. I thought we played them really well. They're a good team, they're going to have a push, but I think as a group we can do a better job of managing that."

Mayhew gave Philadelphia a 3-2 lead at 16:09 of the third period when he tapped in a pass from Sanheim in the crease.
The lead lasted 54 seconds before Hathaway scored the first of his two goals.
"We played 57 minutes the way we did," Philadelphia coach Mike Yeo said. "You leave the game feeling that way, that's pretty tough."
The Capitals' fourth line of Hathaway, Nic Dowd (two assists) and Carl Hagelin (two assists) combined to score seven points.
"We've been playing really well lately," Hathaway said. "And that goes into 'Hags'' speed and turnovers, and 'Dowder's' been unbelievable on the draws. I think we're controlling the puck a little bit more down low and you're seeing, with cutbacks or puck possession ... we had a lot more movement in the offensive zone, rather than just getting it, being stationary and throwing the puck away. I think we're starting to make plays. We're being a little more aggressive, I guess, to try and attack the net."
Laviolette said it's become expected for that line to contribute offensively.
"They've done an excellent job the last couple years," he said. "They have a good identity. What you see from them is their identity and they bring that pretty consistently on a nightly basis. And they're able to produce as well. It's not just about defense for them. They have that same identity in the offensive zone, and it generates chances."
Kempny gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 18:35 of the first period. It was his first goal since Oct. 25, 2019 (61 games).
Mayhew tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 8:54 of the second period.
"I just try to get to the net where the pucks are," Mayhew said. "That second goal I scored was a great play by [Sanheim]. When you go to the net good things happen, so I am going to try to continue to do that."

Joe Snively put the Capitals in front 2-1 with a power-play goal at 12:49, converting on his own rebound after Jones stopped his initial chance in front.
Sanheim tied it 2-2 at 19:01 when he drove to the net and scored off a cross-slot pass from Travis Konecny.
NOTES:Carlson extended his point streak to six games (one goal, five assists). His assist was his 437th, passing Brian Rafalski for 50th among defensemen in NHL history. ... Mayhew's multigoal game was his first in the NHL. … Konecny extended his point streak to five games (one goal, four assists). ... The Flyers began a team-record eight-game homestand. ... Philadelphia forward Claude Giroux won 90.5 percent of his face-offs (19-for-21), the highest among players to take at least 20 draws in a game this season.