The Washington Capitals ended their five-game road trip in a very positive way, taking down the Philadelphia Flyers by a final score of 3-1. The Caps four wins on the trip has them second in the East Division with a game in hand on the surging New York Islanders.

The Caps were outshot by the Flyers 37 to 27 but out-attempted them at five-on-five 45 to 32.

• Overall that’s a pretty great effort from the Caps. A sleepy first period for sure but their second was almost immaculate and they clamped down just enough in the third to earn two points. In the second period at five-on-five, they out-attempted Philly 27 to 8 and out-scoring chanced them 13 to 4.
• Ilya Samsonov was fantastic. He made 36 stops in this one and his third period was the best I think he’s looked in a very long time. It’s probably time to give him the net back for a bit.
• Great night for the Zdeno Chara and Nick Jensen pairing. With Chara on the ice at five-on-five the Caps out-attempted the Flyers 16 to 7, out-scoring chanced them 11 to 2, and put two goals past Carter Hart.

Nick Jensen has recorded four points (1g, 3a) over his last six games. Jensen has recorded eight points (1g, 7a) in 21 games this season, matching his point total from last season in 47 fewer games.

— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) March 8, 2021

• Alex Ovechkin got on the board and that’s always the best. He scored the 363rd road goal of his NHL career which puts him atop Steve Yzerman for sole possession of the second most in NHL history.
• I had questioned on Twitter why Dmitry Orlov only had one point so far this season as he’s playing great hockey. So I’m gonna take full credit for his game winner in this game.
• Jakub Vrana played less than 10 minutes at five-on-five, the lowest on the team. That needs to stop.

Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.

RMNB Coverage of Caps at Flyers

Screenshot courtesy of NBC Sports Washington