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Ovi’s big day squandered: Flyers beat Caps 7-4

By Peter Hassett

 9 Comments

February 7, 2021 2:43 pm

The Washington Capitals got to play host to the Philadelphia Flyers for a highly entertaining — if not highly frustrating — Super Bowl Sunday matinee.

Alex Ovechkin got on the scoreboard early and refused to get off it. He scored on the power play and then set up Tom Wilson for a gorgeous goal. Scott Laughton picked up the slack for the Flyers, scoring two goals into the second period.

Ovechkin responded with his second goal of the game, a slapshot from the blue line. But then the Flyers tied it (Robert Hagg) and then took the lead (James van Riemdsyk), kicking Vitek Vanecek out of net for the first time. Before the second period was up, Alex Ovechkin found Nicklas Backstrom in the paint to tie it yet again.

And then, on the first shift of the third period, Sean Couturier restored the lead for Philly. Then Scott Laughton got the hat trick, and then Sean Couturier made it a touchdown on an empty-netter.

Caps lose.

  • Nick Jensen had a monster first period, saving two near-certain goals with some tremendous play in his own end. He’s a underappreciated player usually, but we sure did hear his name a bunch early on in this one.
  • And then we heard Alex Ovechkin‘s a ton. With a monster individual performance, Ovechkin looked a decade younger. He scored two goals and created two more, showing up big in a big game. Ian will have more on this, but I want to call out this play, where Ovi carried the puck into the zone, danced around Philippe Myers, and then set up Tom Wilson for a goal. Ovi used to do this move every game, but that was in like 2009.

  • On the other hand, Vitek Vanecek had a genuine stinker, his first of the year. You can use your own calculus to decide how many of these goals were on him properly, but ultimately he gave up four goals on 14 shots — a .710 save percentage. Craig Anderson made his first in-game appearance for the Caps in relief. I have nothing to say about him, except that I think he’s a swell fella.
  • Insofar as today’s game was an entertaining blockbuster, it’s largely because the Flyers managed to score a lot of goals on relatively few chances. The Caps had the puck more and they did more with it, but it’s ultimately a game of goals.
  • With the Caps down 5-4 in the third period, rumored human Zdeno Chara got busted for a double minor for high-sticking (for him: nipple-level sticking), forcing the great Caps PK unit to be great for four minutes. They were.
  • I watched this entire game and I still don’t know who Philippe Maillet is. The 28-year-old AHLer made his NHL debut today.

No Joe B. Here’s a hug instead:

The Caps have lost three regulation games in a row. They got some mondo plays out of their top line, but they just don’t have a complete team right now, either in roster or in that roster’s performance. Couldn’t buy a save.

Huge bummer.

RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Flyers

Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports

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