A lot of things went wrong for the Flyers over the course of Saturday night's matchup with the Capitals. They gave up the first goal. They allowed the Caps to climb back from a two-goal deficit in the third period. They couldn't score on a powerplay in the overtime period.
But they won anyway, and they also did a lot of things right to pull a win in a raucous building against the *current* conference leaders. Say what you will about what it took to narrowly beat the Capitals, but through two games in the season series, the Flyers have earned three points.
Highlights and video after the jump.
After giving up the first goal and basically losing the first period, the Flyers came back with a strong second. They notched 16 shots, and scored twice, finally getting off the schneid on the powerplay.
Claude Giroux got it started with an unconventional goal. He was out in front, a little off to the side of the net, when Chris Pronger drove one in toward him. Actually, at him. The shot hit Giroux in the torso, and then went in the net. Yep, G is that freakin' good. He can shoot with his chest.
On another powerplay just a few minutes later, the Flyers were buzzing around Caps goalie Michal "Bebe" Neuvirth. They weren't able to capitalize until four seconds after the man advantage expired, when Scott Hartnell slid a perfect pass across the crease to an open Mike Richards.
Up 2-1 going into the third, things were looking good. But even if the Flyers were to have come out and played a great 20 minutes, the Caps are still offensively potent enough that a one-goal lead isn't enough to instill full confidence.
Jeff Carter opened the scoring in the third on a great play. He was at the end of a long shift, but found himself with the puck in the neutral zone when he was just about to go for a change. Carter's endurance rating must be pretty high in Sega Hockey, because he glided up the boards, then cut across the ice in front of the Washington defense (including one Mike Green), then fired one past Neuvirth.
Scoring three straight and holding a two-goal third period lead, it looked like the Flyers might be able to hang onto this one from there. But a mixture of bad calls and needless penalties tasked the Flyers' PK unit with stopping the potent Caps powerplay four times in 20 minutes, which proved to be way more than they could handle. Three powerplay goals and a gorgeous Andreas Nodl goal later, the game was headed to overtime. The Nodl goal really looked like it could be the final answer too...
Despite drawing a penalty against the Capitals, which was also a bad call, the Flyers weren't able to convert in the extra frame. I don't think we could find five Flyers fans who wanted to see this one go to a shootout after the Flyers gave up three in the third, but they managed to get it done on a goal by Danny Briere and three fruitless opportunities for Washington.
Boosh Is a Hero in Many Area Households Tonight, Including His Own
Brian Boucher got the start and played well through two periods. He stoned Alex Ovechkin a few times, including in the shootout, when Ovie didn't seem to know what he wanted to do. He went way wide to start, then came back in directly at Boucher. Not exactly the angle he was looking for. When Boosh was asked by Coatsey about stoning Ovechkin, he said that Ovie is his son's favorite player. Pretty cool that the highlight of Boucher's night will probably be when he tells his kid about that one.
I specified that Boosh played well through two periods, but it's not as though he was terrible in the third. He and the penalty killers in front of him were just overwhelmed by a barrage of Caps powerplay opportunities that led to three goals over a 10-minute span. The third was on Boucher though, despite the Capitals being on a 6-on-4 with their goalie pulled in the final minute of regulation. His angle wasn't great, which isn't abnormal in a 5-on-4, much less a two-man disadvantage, but he also just couldn't get the glove up anywhere near fast enough.
Still, he was just about perfect in the shootout, stopping Nicklas Backstrom, Ovechkin, and getting some help from the post on a nice move by Alex Semin.
It wasn't pretty, but we'll take those two points any way they'll come. Have a nice walk out of the building, Caps fans. Don't forget your stupid Pavlovian horn.
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