Braden Holtby has been considered to be a shoo-in for the Vezina Trophy this season, and he helped prove his case for the award on Saturday.
The Washington Capitals netminder completely stifled the Flyers' offense with a 41-save performance, as they upped their series lead to 2-0 with a 4-1 victory.
Marcus Johansson turned in another two-assist effort, while John Carlson recorded his second power-play goal of the series (at 14:09 of the first period) and Alexander Ovechkin tallied another on the man-advantage (at 17:21 of the second stanza).
Jakub Voracek recorded the Flyers' first goal of the series at 9:37 of the second period, ending Holtby's shutout streak at nearly 90 minutes. The Flyers, however, could not muster any offense after that.
As the Flyers rallied and pushed to come back, Nicklas Backstrom beat Mason with 2:13 to play the game, effectively icing the game.
The game's strangest (and flukiest) goal came just 2:26 into the second period, courtesy of Jason Chimera. Karl Alzner had gone to dump the puck out of the Capitals' zone, and Chimera tipped it just before the red line. As Steve Mason prepared to play the puck, it just trickled past his pad, and gave the Caps a 2-0 lead. With 19 saves on 23 shots, Mason had otherwise looked pedestrian — including a splitting save on Alzner just moments earlier — but fell victim to that fluke goal.
Offense had been a significant problem for the Orange and Black in the series' first game, as they mustered just 19 shots. They more than doubled that total tonight (matching their Game 1 total in the first period alone), and out-shot the Caps by 19 shots, but could not figure Holtby out.
Special teams also proved to be a concern, as the Flyers came up short on all four power-play opportunities — including a 1:07 5-on-3 chance in the first period. The Capitals were able to cash in on both of their opportunities on the man-advantage.
The series now shifts to Philadelphia, as the Flyers will host Games 3 and 4. Game 3 is set for Monday night. With the loss, the Flyers now trail 2-0 in a series for the first time since the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals, against Boston.
Rob Riches is a contributor to Flyerdelphia and Sports Talk Philly. Follow him on Twitter @Riches61
