Grading Capitals offense against Flyers
The Washington Capitals ended their road trip with a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Let’s break down more of the game and grade the performances. First up, the offense.
The Caps offense once again showed up when they needed to. Now unlike the previous game against the Edmonton Oilers where they came out firing, they were kind of off to a slow start.
The Caps were outshot 7-4 in the first period and the Caps went scoreless on three power play attempts but the fourth time was the charm.
In the second period T.J. Oshie struck with an inside looking shot. It came at 3:51 on their fourth power play attempt with Dylan Strome and Evgeny Kuznetsov providing the helpers.
The Caps outshot the Flyers 12-8 in the second period as the game was tied at one apiece after two.
In the third period, Dylan Strome got a deflection in off a shot from John Carlson, who’s having a phenomenal offensive season. No surprises there. Erik Gustafsson had the secondary assist.
Alex Ovechkin then scored two empty net goals to continue his chase towards history. The first one was assisted by Anthony Mantha and Carlson. Kuznetsov and Conor Sheary assisted on the second one.
The Caps were outshot 15-11 in the third period and 30-27 overall but like I said, they scored when it mattered most which is pretty much what you can ask for when it comes to offense.
Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette celebrated his 58th birthday saying, “The win was a good present.”
On the second Ovechkin empty net goal, Travis Konecny was none too pleased. He shoved Ovechkin and exchanged some words with the Capitals captain. A poor sport in that and a sore loser.
Ovechkin said this about the incident:
“They lost. They have a character. They have a good group of guys. Obviously frustration. A big two points. We move on. I always say we have to collect the points.”
Related Story. Capitals Finish Road Trip with Victory Over Flyers. light
Grade B+: Once again the Capitals offense passed the test against the Flyers. They scored when they needed to score and that’s pretty much what you can ask for in a win. Overall great team effort.