The Capitals Welcome Back T.J. Oshie and Sink The Flyers In Overtime

The Washington Capitals played a big game Wednesday night, the night before Thanksgiving. A game they needed to win vs the struggling Philadelphia Flyers. A game in which they saw the return of key player T.J. Oshie.

It was a good night for Oshie, he registered two points, both being assists, and the Capitals were able to just fly by the Flyers in a 3-2 overtime final.

The first period was not a great start. Just 5:27 into the first period Darcy Kuemper let in a goal he surely would love to have back. The reeling Capitals quickly found themselves down 0-1 to a team they needed to beat.

The Capitals thought they responded later in the period on their first power play but it was clear that Marcus Johansson kicked the puck in. However just seconds later, on that same power play he legally scored to tie the game at ones.

Washington would have to kill a couple of penalties after tying the game, but 1-1 was how the first period ended. Shots on goal were 10-10 and while 5v5 shot attempts were 16-16 and scoring chances were 8-6 in the Flyers favor.

The Capitals dominated the second period in just about every area except the most important one, the scoreboard. Shots in the second period were 15-5. While at full and even strength attempts were 24-8 and chances were 11-2. However the Flyers were the lone team to strike getting a puck to squeak by Kuemper off a deflection right in front of him at 14:43 of the period. 2-1 after forty minutes of play.

The third period was a pretty even period. The Flyers controlled the puck more, but the chances were fairly even. They made us wait a while, but the Capitals made one of their chances count, Sonny Milano scoring the tying goal at 17:02 of the third, his third of the year. No goals came afterwards and we went to overtime.

In overtime the Flyers hardly, if ever touched the puck before Ovechkin got a chance that he hit a post on. A quick regroup into center ice and Ovechkin got another chance. This time Strome set him up for the one timer and Ovechkin made no mistake. Capitals win in overtime. Ovechkin’s 10th at 1:02 of the extra session sinks the Flyers.

It was a game of ups and downs. The Capitals had a pretty good first period, followed by a very good second period, then a somewhat slower third period. Maybe they should have put this Flyers team away more convincingly but a win is a win.

You cannot be picky about wins now. After the start they have had they have to put W’s in a row and this could be the start of a streak. The Capitals end a four game losing spell having gone 0-3-1 in those four games.

We now look to the future. Washington has a tough weekend coming up. The day after Thanksgiving they host the Calgary Flames, that game being an early 2PM eastern start. They then play the Devils the very next night in New Jersey. The Devils just losing their thirteen game winning streak against the Maple Leafs.