Photo: TSN
Hey everyone, they did it: the Caps beat the Flyers.
Some national pundits may tell you that this series was close. While the 5-on-5 play was more even than the series score made it seem after three games, this series really wasn’t very close.
The Flyers needed a Caps own goal and three games of heroic goaltending to force this series to six games. The Caps were the better team, and rightfully they move on to the next round.
The Caps, of course, got great play from Braden Holtby in net. They also completely dominated the special teams battle. These were major factors in the series victory. But the 5-on-5 play has some good nuggets in it too. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the 5-on-5 numbers from the series.
Here’s a snapshot of the 5-on-5 play for all six games, which was a 216-minute sample.
| Team | Goals | Shots on Goal | Shot Attempts | Scoring Chances | High-Danger Scoring Chances |
| Caps | 5 | 106 | 237 (54.2%) | 125 | 56 |
| Flyers | 3 | 94 | 200 (45.8%) | 93 | 40 |
This was a beatdown.
The Caps rode their special teams to victories in the first three games, games in which the Flyers put up a good fight at 5-on-5. After that, the Caps simply imposed their will on the Flyers.
Sure, Game Five had a big effect on these numbers, but the Caps were the more stronger 5-on-5 team going into this series, and they proved it on the ice.
Some other 5-on-5 tidbits:
- Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson tied for the team lead with 25 individual shot attempts. Perhaps even more surprising than a defender being tied for the team lead is Evgeny Kuznetsov (22) being third in individual shot attempts.
- Ovechkin and Kuznetsov tied for the team lead in individual scoring chances with 14.
- Say what you want about the lack of scoring from the second line, but the chances were there and the goals will come. Justin Williams, Andre Burakovsky, and Kuznesov all finished in the top five on the team in individual scoring chances, accounting for 33 of the 125 Caps scoring chances at 5-on-5.
Here’s the head-to-head matchup chart from Muneeb:
https://twitter.com/muneebalamcu/status/724311407379013632
- What an absolute beatdown the Caps gave the Flyers in matching power vs power, line one vs line one.
- Matt Niskanen and Karl Alzner were dynamite as well, absolutely owning the Flyers top forwards during the series.
- The Caps’ fourth line was dynamite, and they did so while starting more shifts in the defensive zone than any other line.
- I thought Jason Chimera was the Caps’ worst forward during the series and the possession numbers throw some support behind that. I’d like to think Trotz would give Winnik some of the Ice Cheetah’s ice time, but I’d be downright shocked if that happened.
Bring on the Pens.
