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The Caps took to the ice Thursday night in Philly just 24 hours after doing so in Toronto (while the Flyers rested and waited for them) with largely the same lineup, including Braden Holtby between the pipes for a franchise-record 23rd-consecutive appearance. And while they struggled to get anything going for much of the night, they actually took the lead twice (including the scoring the game’s first goal) before giving it right back and playing most of the night tied… until a Matt Niskanen penalty in overtime put the Flyers on the power play, where they quickly ended the game by a 3-2 count.
Check back right here for our full recap later, but first, Thursday night’s Plus/Minus:
Plus/Minus:
- Plus: Holtby kept the Caps in this one (though he misplayed R.J. Umberger‘s tally that tied the game at two), but tonight’s Plus goes to the penalty kill, which went 3-for-3 against the League’s best home power play through regulation, including a big kill in the last three minutes of it. They couldn’t kill the overtime penalty, but there is no overtime without their efforts during the first sixty minutes of the game.
- Minus: The forwards. Through two periods, only four forwards – Alex Ovechkin, Troy Brouwer, Marcus Johansson and Eric Fehr – had registered a shot on goal (and only two defensemen – the Nate Schmidt–Mike Green pair had). The third period was better, but one night after they showed off their depth, the guys up front didn’t get the job done at even-strength or on the team’s last three power-plays.
And now, this – it was one of those nights…
- Marcus Johansson had a dandy takeaway in the first period that led to one of the Capitals‘ few offensive opportunities of the night. In addition to cutting his coach with his stick, Johansson was the recipient of an aggressive slash in the second period that left him smarting on the bench. Thankfully he returned later in the period.
- Holtby looked very sharp even after playing the night before. At some point, probably soon, he is going to need a rest.
- The Capitals were pretty handily outplayed in this one. Hopefully we can just chalk it up to the Caps being a little fatigued from playing the night before.
- A lot has been said about the second scoring line and their troubles over the last couple of weeks. Well for the second straight night, the second line has been one of the Capitals’ better forward lines. Brouwer, Johansson, and Kuznetsov were all above 55% in terms of five on five shot attempt percentage.
- Trotz did some line juggling in the third period, it might have been an attempt to rest some of the team’s tired legs. The juggling saw Beagle back on the top line for a couple of shifts before Burakovsky slid back into position.
- Each of the last four goals the Capitals have given up in overtime have been while the team was shorthanded.
- Alexander Ovechkin stretched his goal scoring streak to five games with his power play snipe in the first.
- After a rather lengthy review at the start of the third period, Karl Alzner was credited with his fourth goal of the season. The goal might belong to Backstrom, who supposedly told CSN’s Alan May that he touched the puck while his stick was below the crossbar.
- The Flyers are not a very good hockey team, especially defensively. The Capitals had trouble generating shots against another poor defensive team (Toronto) during the first period last night and they had similar struggles in the second tonight. The team only had 4 shots in the second period.
- Per the War on Ice game report, the Capitals generated 18 even strength scoring chances while the Flyers had 28 of their own. That is a pretty big gap that seems representative of the play on the ice.
The Capitals played a pretty poor game in Philadelphia but they still got a point for their efforts and that’s what really matters. Next up: The Detroit Red Wings
Game highlights: