Hart, Flyers Hold Off Capitals

In the first meeting of the home-and-home on Wednesday, the Flyers held the Washington Capitals at bay for most of the game until a late push in the third period. That wasn’t the case on Saturday. The Flyers had a two-goal lead early in the second period, then proceeded to be peppered with 33 shots over the final 40 minutes.

Carter Hart held down the two-goal lead for the final two periods, making 39 saves as the Flyers claimed a 3-1 win over the Capitals on Saturday night.

Throughout the first 10 minutes of the first period, the Capitals had the better of possession and generating some pressure. Shots were limited, but the Capitals were doing a better job of finding open ice.

When the Flyers got a power-play opportunity with 6:55 left in the period, they made quick work of it. Just like on Wednesday, it was the same player striking first. Scott Laughton scored his 11th goal of the season on a deflection of a Tony DeAngelo shot just 11 seconds into the man-advantage to make it 1-0 Flyers.

The Capitals kept the pressure on late in the period and turned that into the tying goal. After making two great saves in close, Carter Hart wasn’t able to get a rebound chance for Alex Ovechkin, and the Capitals captain scored his 30th goal of the season and 810th of his career to even things at one with 2:04 to play. It marked the 17th season in Ovechkin’s career where he has reached the 30-goal mark, tying Mike Gartner for the most in NHL history.

Through 20 minutes, shots were 8-5 Washington.

Early in the second, the Flyers got the lead back and added another goal in short order, separated by just 49 seconds.

A nice play off the forecheck allowed the Flyers to gain possession. Owen Tippett got a pass across to a wide-open James van Riemsdyk with a yawning cage to bury his seventh goal of the season at 4:51.

Then, a scramble in front of the net allowed the Flyers to extend the lead with Wade Allison putting home a shot from the slot at 5:40.

The Flyers had to weather the storm in the latter stages of the period, killing off two penalties in the last half of the period. Through two periods, the Capitals led in shots, 21-15.

The story of the third period was Hart. Clinging to the two-goal lead, Hart made 19 saves in the third to nail down the result, finishing the game by stopping 33 shots over the final 40 minutes.

Hart finished with 39 saves on 40 shots in the win. Darcy Kuemper made 22 saves on 25 shots in the loss.

Laughton had an assist in addition to his goal in the first period for another multi-point game. Travis Konecny was held without a point, snapping his 10-game points streak.

The win brought the Flyers points percentage back to .500 with an 18-18-7 record and marked the seventh win in the last eight games.

The Flyers continue their brief road trip by heading to Boston to face the Bruins on Monday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• PHI Scott Laughton (11) PP (Tony DeAngelo, Joel Farabee) 13:16
• WSH Alex Ovechkin (30) (Unassisted) 17:56

2nd Period

• PHI James van Riemsdyk (7) (Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost) 4:51
• PHI Wade Allison (6) (Kevin Hayes, Laughton) 5:40

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Game Statistics