The referees in Sunday’s Game Six lost their damn minds. In the span of five seconds, Officials Dan O’Halloran and Ian Walsh blew two calls, resulting in a four-minute power play for Philly plus two minutes of 5v3.
They were bad calls.
Photo: Flyers
During Game Three, Flyers fans showed boorish behavior that eventually turned violent during the Caps’ 6-1 win. Fans threw the organization’s promotional giveaway, plastic light-up bracelets, onto the ice, one of which struck Caps defenseman Dmitry Orlov in the face. Orlov had been getting medical attention after getting checked boarded by Pierre-Édouard Bellemare. Minutes later, the fans were given a minor penalty and were criticized by PA announcer Lou Nolan.
The Flyers organization, who had planned to give the bracelets away again in Game Four, did not, opting to give away a tshirt with the Flyers logo filled up with words that they thought represented the team. Ahead of Game Six, the Flyers gave away another t-shirt, but this time it made light of the Flyers violence in Game Three. It featured Lou Nolan reminding fans to “Stay Classy.”
Photo: Patrick Smith
The Caps are back in Philadelphia and on this lovely Sunday afternoon we’ll see if they can cash in on their 3rd opportunity to eliminate the Flyers and move on to the 2nd round to face the Pittsburgh Penguins. The effort the Caps put out on Friday was phenomenal and if they can repeat it again tonight, I have a feeling dancing will be going on in the postgame.
The stonewall that is Michal Neuvirth is still in net for the Flyers, Brooks Orpik is still hurt and I just woke up.
Game Six liveblog below.
By Chris Cerullo 7 years ago
You know the deal. The Caps failed to finish the Flyers in games four and five. Now, on their home turf, the Flyers have a chance to tie the series and force a game seven.
We’d rather not see that happen. We’ve got reservations at Olive Garden on Wednesday.
Puck drops at noon on NBC proper.
| Team | Record | Possession | PDO | Power Play | Penalty Kill |
| Washington Capitals | 56-18-8 | 52.0% | 101.1 | 21.9% (5th) | 85.2% (2nd) |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 41-27-14 | 50.1% | 100.5 | 18.9% (11th) | 80.5% (20th) |
By Peter Hassett 7 years ago
Photo: Patrick McDermott
In Game Five, the Philadelphia Flyers had the fewest shots they’ve ever had in a game. But they won. The Washington Capitals, at one point up 3-0 in the series, are now heading to Philly, where the Flyers have a chance Sunday to force a Game Seven. This is the second time the Flyers have won two games in a row after being down 3-0. The last time, against the Bruins in 2010, they won the next two as well, becoming the third team in NHL history to win a series after being down 3-0.
Washington has a playoff pedigree as well. It involves losing in painful ways. It’s on everyone’s minds. But the Capitals want none of it. Here’s what they said after dropping Game Five.
By Chris Gordon 7 years ago
Photo: Amanda Bowen
The Caps somehow lost to the Flyers on Friday night in a game they dominated. Quickly, the doom and gloom takes and narratives were out in full force: Are the Caps about to “choke” again?
Who. Cares.
The fact is that the Caps dominated the hockey game. Yes, they lost. Yes, this has happened before in franchise history. But any analysis that tries to explain the primary reason of why a team lost with a 44-11 shot advantage as something other than poor luck or a hot goalie is simply post hoc and lazy.
Sure, the Caps did lose 2-0. But there does not have to be a fall guy or blame placed as to why this happened. Analysis that does that isn’t analysis of the actual hockey game; it’s analysis that starts by looking at the 2-0 final score and tries to work backwards to place blame as to why the Caps lost.
The Caps have a 3-2 series lead and just dominated the Flyers. Let’s take a deep breath and look at some visualizations of this domination.
By Patrick Holden 7 years ago
Photo: Rob Carr
After Monday night’s anarchic attempt at a hockey game, the Washington Capitals held a 3-0 series lead. In 180 minutes of hockey, the Philadelphia Flyers took 96 PIMs. Washington’s power play was eight for 17. The Caps, it seemed, were in for a long layover before facing the winner of the Rangers-Penguins series.
“Everything they’ve gotten to a point we’ve given them,” Wayne Simmonds said in the minutes after Game Three ended. “We’ve got to stay out of the box.”
The Flyers have done that the last two games, reducing Washington to five power plays in Games Four and Five. Without that boost, the Caps fell when the series shifted back to Verizon Center Friday night. They outshot the Flyers 44-11 — shot attempts were 82-27 — but lost the special teams battle. Philadelphia had six power plays while Washington’s deadly man-advantage unit was limited to three.
“We were in the box a lot,” Tom Wilson, who did not receive any infractions, said. “Yeah, we had a lot of shots, but we have to do a better job of getting to the interior and staying out of the box. If we play 60 minutes five-on-five, I don’t think you see that team standing up by the end of it.”
By Chris Gordon 7 years ago
In the trailer for the new Independence Day movie, the voiceover is all like, “We knew it would happen again. We just didn’t know it suck super duper hard.”
THIS IS EXACTLY LIKE THAT.
We know the Caps were designed by the Old Ones to teach man how to suffer. We know this. We’ve even gotten used to it a bit. But this is worse. THIS IS SOOOO MUCHHHH WORSEEEEE.
Everything was fine. The Capitals were driving play, but pesky penalties kept putting them on defense. And then a puck hopped off Taylor Chorney’s skate and past Braden Holtby. Then an empty netter.
IS THAT IT?! That’s all? Oh, it burnsssss IT BURNSSSS
Flyers beat Caps 2-0. Caps lead the series, I guess, 3-2.
By Peter Hassett 7 years ago
Ryan White scored for the Philadelphia Flyers. Or, at least, that’s what THEY WANT you to think.
We’ve seen the documents, we’ve reviewed the tape, and we’ve performed analysis on the chemtrails, and it turns out that everything you think you know is a LIE.
It’s a conspiracy against the Caps.
The Capitals came out flying in the first period, and their captain led the way. Alex Ovechkin levied five huge hits in 6:02 of ice time. Thirty-one percent of the game’s first period hits were from the Russian machine alone.
His hardest body bam of the period was on Flyers center Ryan White. As White reeled in a loose puck along the boards, Ovechkin nailed him in the neutral zone. Ovechkin hit White so hard, the dude’s helmet spun around and covered his face.
