Mason, Flyers Best Capitals in Shootout

(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Just like the last regular-season game between the Flyers and Capitals, a playoff atmosphere came with.

And just like that last regular-season meeting in March, the game required extra time.

The Flyers rallied back in the final two rounds of a shootout to defeat the Capitals, 3-2, on Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

The Capitals were the stronger team at the start of the game, but Steve Mason held the game scoreless until the late stages of the period.

But as Washington continued to press, they were rewarded for their efforts with the game's first goal. With 1:36 left in the first, Andre Burakovsky scored his first goal since the Capitals season opener to put Washington on the board first. The Capitals also outshot the Flyers, 14-7, in the period.

In the second, the Flyers came out as the stronger team and evened the score 4:25 of the period. With Braden Holtby caught out of the net, Michael Raffl was able to wrap around the net and tuck home a goal to tie things up.

Washington pulled ahead again at the halfway point of the period. With a chance to clear, Raffl had the puck poke-checked off his stick by John Carlson and it went in on an unsuspecting Mason. Mason made the save, but the rebound went to Lars Eller who scored his third goal of the season.

The two teams skated at 4-on-4 late in the period, and with just 21 seconds remaining in the second, Claude Giroux tied things up. Moments after Ivan Provorov was stopped from an angle, a turnover went right to the stick of Giroux and he lifted a shot over Holtby for his 10th goal of the season.

An energetic and exciting start to the third period had both teams scrambling before play settled. The Flyers had to dodge a bullet late in the third as Radko Gudas took a hooking penalty with 1:48 to play. The Flyers killed it off, and the game headed to overtime.

With the teams starting overtime at 4-on-4, play was slow and methodical. But with 2:15 left in overtime, the 3-on-3 play began with the first stoppage of the extra session, and play picked up from there. 

Holtby made three great saves on Giroux and Shayne Gostisbehere. Mason had to be just as good at the other end with two big stops at the other end. Mason made one more sprawling save and a goal-saving clear by Andrew MacDonald in the closing seconds forced the shootout.

T.J. Oshie put the Capitals ahead in the first round of the shootout, but Jake Voracek scored in the third round to tie it. Wayne Simmonds scored in the fourth round and Justin Williams was stopped at the other end to give the Flyers the win.

Mason made 36 saves in regulation and overtime and added three more in the shootout. Holtby also stopped 36 shots in regulation and overtime.

The Flyers are back in action on Thursday night for their final game before the holiday weekend, taking on the New Jersey Devils at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• WSH Andre Burakovsky (3) (Dmitry Orlov, Lars Eller) 18:24

2nd Period

• PHI Michael Raffl (7) (Radko Gudas, Jake Voracek) 4:25
• WSH Eller (3) (John Carlson, Burakovsky) 9:54
• PHI Claude Giroux (10) (Unassisted) 19:39

3rd Period

• No Scoring

Overtime

• No Scoring

Shootout

• PHI Shayne Gostisbehere – Miss
• WSH T.J. Oshie – Goal
• PHI Claude Giroux - Save
• WSH Evgeny Kuznetsov – Save
• PHI Jake Voracek - Goal
• WSH Nicklas Backstrom – Save
• PHI Wayne Simmonds – Goal
• WSH Justin Williams – Save

Game Statistics