The Washington Capitals’ big home game against the red-hot division rival Philadelphia Flyers did not go as we hoped. The Caps got an early lead, but the Flyers were relentless, adding pressure as the game went on. It was more than the Caps could handle.
Lars Eller kicked off the scoring with a lovely rush goal, but the Flyers responded with three goals in the second period — a rebound from Travis Konecny, a layup from Kevin Hayes after a power-play expired, and then an odd-man rush finished off by Tyler Pitlick. Garnet Hathaway notched a goal of his own, but Ivan Provorov hit the back of the net in the third, putting the Caps into a two-goal hole they could not escape. Scott Laughton made it a laugher with a deflection off Orlov’s stick.
Caps lose.
- The Flyers have now won seven games in a row. They are point behind the Caps in the Metro.
- Tom Wilson was on one for the big metro rivalry game. He got in plural fights, got speared, landed some big hits, and was just generally very wilsonesque for the full hour.
- In the second period, Braden Holtby got shoved into the net as Travis Konecny may have (read: almost certainly actually did) sneak the puck across the goal line. But the whistle was late, and the refs didn’t see it, so it didn’t count. The review took like 45 minutes, and then Konecny scored for real on his next shift.
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- Here’s a novel recap bullet: the officiating was 🚮. There was no call on a blatant high stick against Kuznetsov in the first period (below), then a marginal call for too many men in the second period. At least the refs got the big no-goal call right.
Missed call on a high stick against Kuznetsov. Ovi saw it, ha. pic.twitter.com/vvnPgj5HqC
— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) March 5, 2020
- I hate whining about the refs. They’re not why the Caps lost.
- Caps went 0 for 5 on the power play. This may have been a factor in why they lost.
- Travis Hayes‘ goal in the second was remarkable if only for the pass that set it up. Derek Grant was on the other side of the slot and sent the puck to Hayes with a subtle kick pass. That was impressive. I’m not even mad.
| Recap Intermission 2: a smol ceps bb Tonight our friends Lindsey and Tyler had a child!
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- James van Riemsdyk left the game early in the first period after taking a puck to his hand. Alain Vigneault seemed to imply to NBCSN that JVR broke his hand, which is not great. (I think the shot came from Jonas Siegenthaler.)
- I feel like every game lately we’ll say, “wow, Braden Holtby sure is playing well.” And he is, and he did, but there were somehow still five Flyers goals in this one. So either he’s not actually playing all that well, or the Caps’ team defense is still not good, or both.
- It’s definitely both.
Absolute piss-tier suits
Shame to everyone involved pic.twitter.com/KLN5EjuFf7— Peter Hassett (@peterhassett) March 5, 2020
This was not a good time for a Caps letdown. They looked more like their mid-February doldrums than ta team preparing to compete for a Stanley Cup.
So now Washington and Philly are nearly tied in the standings. And one of those teams looks much much better than the other. But the Caps have a chance to get two points tomorrow night as they head up to Madison Square Garden for a roadie against the Rangers.
