Photo: Kyle Mace
Well, don’t we all feel like silly gooses. Turns out the Capitals are capable of closing out a series in under seven games after all. With a nailbiting win over the Flyers in Philadelphia, the Caps advance to the next round.
We were scoreless until the midway mark, when Nick Backstrom scored a rush goal on Michal Neuvirth. That was it. That’s all it took.
Caps beat Flyers 1-0! Caps win the series 4-2! Braden Holtby records the shutout!
- The Capitals came into this game with ferocity, and the Flyers responded with physicality. That stymied the Caps, poor Andre Burakovsky especially, but not for long. Game Six saw much of the same 5v5 domination we saw in Game Five, but with the added bonus of goals!
- It was a rush goal that finally bested Michal Neuvirth, who was excellent again. Ovechkin to Johansson to Nick Backstrom to the back of the net. I thought it would have to be net-front presence and rebounds that would crack Neuvy; I’m happy to be wrong. Finesse, speed, and talent feel even better. That’s how I want to see the Caps win.
- Revisiting the nonsense of the second period: the refs kicked it hard. Nick Backstrom didn’t high-stick Ryan White; that was Chris Vandevelde, and Matt Niskanen did not commit hooking on the resulting power play. Two unforgivable calls in an elimination game, compounding each other. This could have been a fiasco if the result were different.
- The Flyers played a tough game, pulling up on exactly zero hits. I admire that. I admire somewhat less when Brayden Schenn launched himself into TJ Oshie’s head. Without Oshie stepping aside, that could have been a Savard-level injury. Oshie missed some shifts, but returned for the third to do this:
TJ Oshie, who left the second period early after absorbing a head shot, just dove face-first to block a Flyers shot pic.twitter.com/AcveDCcvpu
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) April 24, 2016
- People at Wells Fargo Center did not throw anything on the ice. This is worthy of a bullet apparently.
- Bravo to Michal Neuvirth. Wonderfully played series by the Philly G. Not my favorite player, but good for him.
- Claude Giroux had one assist this series, tying Braden Holtby, who isn’t even allowed to cross center ice.
- Oh, btw, he got his second shutout of the series. HELL YES.
Feel better now? Good. Me too. That was agonizing. Part of that’s the Caps’ fault, but don’t we mostly do this to ourselves? All that suffering ends, for now at least, in the wake of absolute victory.
Usually, I’d dedicate a graf to the opponent, but this series was dirtier than any we’ve seen against the Bruins or Rangers lately. I’m done with the bums. I’m moving on.
Next up:
You can get the shirt from our store.
Bring it on.
