Poor third period sinks Flyers in D.C.

Kate Frese, Sports Talk Philly

By: Bill Minchin, Sports Talk Philly writer

The Philadelphia Flyers had to be pleased with their effort over the first two periods. Unfortunately for them, the game is three periods long. Washington expanded on a 1-0 lead and exploded for four goals in the first six minutes of the the third to put the game out of reach as they defeated the Flyers 5-0 on Sunday afternoon.

The Flyers got off to a much better start than yesterday. They controlled play for the first few minutes not allowing Washington to have any sustained pressure.

Washington would get a chance at 5:24 when Jakub Voracek was called for tripping. The Flyers penalty killers had other ideas. They managed to keep everything to the outside and Washington never threatened with the extra man.

The Flyers would get their own chance just three minutes later. The Capitals got caught with six men on the ice at 8:29 of the period. Philadelphia was much better on the power play than Washington was but the result was the same. 

Philadelphia would get a second man advantage at 16:28 of the period. This time the Capitals penalty kill was better at shutting down passing and shooting lanes and Philadelphia never threatened. 

In total the Flyers outshot the Capitals 13-6 for the period but neither team was able to score and it remained 0-0 after 20 minutes.

The Flyers got another power play at 1:10 when T. J. Oshie was called for holding. Unlike the first two power plays, the Flyers genereated nothing. They were out of sync the entire two minutes as Washington killed it off.

Washington would get their chance with the extra man 7:26 of the period when Jakub Voracek was called for tripping. The Flyers did an outstanding job against the Capitals first unit but could not keep the second unit off the board. 

Michael Del Zotto had a chance to clear the puck but missed it and Andre Burakovsky went in alone on Steve Mason. Burakovsky beat Mason to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 9:008 of the period. It was his sixth goal on the year.

Philadelphia got their fourth power play of the game at 13:45 when Nicklas Backstrom was called for high sticking. It was another lackluster power play except for one shot. Mark Streit teed off on a one timer that hit the cross bar but did not go.

The second period ended with the Flyers holding 17-10 shot advantage but trailing 1-0 on the scoreboard. 

Washington took control in the early stages of the third. Justin Williams got it started at 1:36. Williams scored his 13th of the season in tight after a behind the back pass from Marcus Johansson. Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up the other assist.

Matt Niskanen made it 3-0 at 3:20. Niskanen joined the rush after Ivan Provorov missed a puck at the Capitals blueline. Niskanen took a pass from Alex Ovechkin and deposited it in the wide open net for his third of the season. 

Niskanen extended the lead further at 3:47. The Capitals defenseman fired a shot from the point that deflected off Mason's glove and in for the 4-0 lead. Tom Wilson and Jay Beagle picked up the assists.

Williams would get on the board again at 6:36. Williams was left alone at the side of the net and tapped home a pass from Backstrom to make it 5-0. Brooks Orpik picked up the second assist. It would be the last shot Mason would see as he was replaced by Michal Neuvirth following the goal.

That would be all she wrote for both the Flyers and the game as the Capitals skated away with the 5-0 victory. Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves for the shutout.