The Caps went to Philly for the first meeting between these two teams since last spring when the good guy eliminated the bad guys from the playoffs.
Andre Burakovsky opened the scoring off a sublime feed from Dmitry Orlov, giving the Caps winger his first goal since almost a month before Election Day. The Flyers pinned the Caps in their end to start the second period and tied it at one. The third line struck again, this time it was Lars Eller giving the Caps a 2-1 lead after a great pinch by John Carlson. We went 4-on-4 near the end of the second and the Caps decided to let the Flyers tie it so we entered the third level at two. No one scored in the third so this one required OT.
Both teams had chances in OT but no one scored, so to the stupid gimmick we went.
I don’t do bullet points for the shootout because the shootout is lame.
CAPS LOSE in the shootout
- That Burakovsky snipe was nice, but don’t sleep on the pass from Orlov. It’s almost like there’s more to Orlov’s game than noticeable mistakes and there’s a reason he drives goal differentials when he’s on the ice.
- The Caps played well for the opening 20 minutes but that was quickly erased with a garbage start to the second period.
- All of the players on the third line, especially Lars Eller, were due. Tonight, they got their due. Eller has been a solid addition and it’s nice to see the score sheet reflect that tonight.
- The third line and third pairing absolutely crushed it tonight. These five players were your top five possession players. Jakub Vrana led the way with a +15 on-ice shot attempt differential.
- The first line and Carlzner? Not so much. Poor possession numbers are becoming the norm for the Caps “shutdown” defensive pairing.
- Kuznetsov got flamed on Twitter for his turnover on the Flyers second goal. I’m not so sure he deserves all of the criticism. That bounce off the boards was weird.
- I always thought Isles Twitter hated Tom Wilson the most, but Flyers Twitter gives them a run for their money.
- Reminder:
BTW, Wilson is top-3 in the NHL in penalties drawn and penalty differential. Ho hum
— RMNB (@rmnb) December 22, 2016
The Not Joe B Suit of the Night
https://twitter.com/MissDaniBaby/status/811302328565374976
Full Coverage of Caps at Flyers
Headline image: Patrick Smith
