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Capitals Defeat Flyers to Sweep Three-Game Metro Road Trip

By Michael Marzzacco |
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 06: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals (c) celebrates his goal at 5:42 of the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers and is joined by Brooks Orpik #44 (l) and Jakub Vrana #13 (r) at the Wells Fargo Center on March 06, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MARCH 06: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals (c) celebrates his goal at 5:42 of the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers and is joined by Brooks Orpik #44 (l) and Jakub Vrana #13 (r) at the Wells Fargo Center on March 06, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 to sweep their three-game road trip, all against Metropolitan Division foes. I think they’re passing their pre playoff tests.

The Capitlas scored twice in the first period and three times in the second to go up 5-0. Then the Flyers scored three unanswered goals to make things interesting. The Capitals ultimately held them off in the end to seal the win.

With the win, the Capitals’ record improves to 39-21-7 with 85 points, good for first place in the Metropolitan Division. They are currently two games ahead of the Islanders, who play the Senators tonight. The Capitals sitting atop of the division is in large credit to their current five-game winning streak which included this recent road sweep.

The Capitals jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 5:55 when Alex Ovechkin got the puck off the blockers of Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott. Ovechkin faked a pass, fell to his knees and whiffed a perfect pass to Tom Wilson to bang it home. It was Wilson’s 19th goal of the season. I did say to keep an eye on the top line yesterday.

At 14:16, the Caps extended their lead to 2-0 with a snipe from Brett Connolly that hit the camera inside the net for his 17th goal of the year. The goal was reviewed by the officials to make sure it crossed the line which it did, signaling a good goal. 2-0 would be the score heading into the first intermission with the Caps leading in shots 14-7.

The Capitals added three more goals in the second period to go up 5-0. First The Capitals went to the power play when Sean Couturier tripped Matt Niskanen at 1:49. Ovechkin struck on the power play for his 46th goal of the season at 2:32.

Andre Burakovsky continued his hot tear with a wicked snipe to put the Capitals up 4-0 for his 10th of the year. This game marked the second consecutive game Burakovsky scored. Burakovsky has recorded six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in his last eight games. The goal came at 4:18.

The Capitals extended their lead to 5-0 at 5:37 with a great pass from Jakub Vrana behind the goal to Nicklas Backstrom for his 16th of the seaosn. The three goals came in the span of 3:05.

The Flyers answered with three unanswered goals. First there was one from Philippe Myers for his first goal of his NHL career. That came with 12 seconds left in the second period.

The Flyers came out of the gates in the third with Claude Giroux scoring 10 seconds in for his 20th of the seaosn. Then at 7:48, the Flyers pulled within two with a goal from Scott Laughton for his 10th.

The Capitals would fend off a Flyers comeback to come away with the 5-3 win. The Capitals outshot the Flyers 35-30. Braden Holtby stopped 27 shots for a .900 save percentage to win his 250th career NHL game. He acheived the feat in his 409th NHL game, becoming the second fastest goaltender in NHL history to record 250 wins.

The Capitals will host the New Jersey Devils Friday night at Capital One Arena. Coming off a three-game sweep on the road against tough divisional foes, the fans can’t wait to welcome em home.

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