The Washington Capitals got another big road win, this time a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. The team got goals from Alex Ovechkin who's 16 away from passing Wayne Gretzky, Connor McMichael, Lars Eller and defensemanJakob Chychrun.
The latter would pot the game winning goal to give the Capitals a wide lead in the standings. Washington improved their record to 36-11-7 and 79 points which is good for tops in the Metropoitan Division, Eastern Conference and the entire League entering the weekend's slate of games.
Chychrun's goal was his 14th goal of the season and he's ranked tied for third among NHL defensemen in goals trailing only Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche (19 goals) and Zach Werenski of the Columbus Blue Jackets (17 goals).
John Carlson would notch his 30th assist on the go ahead goal which extended his point and assist streaks to five games as he's notched five assists. Carlson, whos Washington's all time leader in assists by a defenseman, has reached the 30 assist mark for the 10th time in his career.
Taylor Raddysh would have the secondary assist for his second multi point game and the 16th of his career. Chychrun's 14 goals this season are the most by a newcoming defenseman in his first season with the Capitals, passing Larry Murphy's mark of 13 goals in 1983-84.
Holy freaking rip there, Chych pic.twitter.com/4UBRMjeqt7
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 7, 2025
Chychrun would describe the goal after the game via Adam Kimelman of NHL.com:
"Just a great pass from 'Carly'. Tried to make eye contact with him and had my stick up in the air, was kind of letting him know I was open. He had to thread it and he sure did. Great play by him."Jakob Chychrun
Chychrun's game winner came at the 12:05 mark and the defense would protect the lead for Charlie Lindgren the rest of the way.
Grade B+: Overall I thought the Capitals played OK. It wasn't a complete game by any means and Spencer Carbery even admitted that in his postgame press conference. However, the defense was good enough to hang on to get the two points which in the end is all that matters.
As silly as this sounds a February win on the road over the Flyers to put the Caps atop the standings is a huge deal. Especially with one more game coming up before the 4 Nations break. Next Caps game is Sunday against the Utah Hockey Club with a 12:30 p.m. puck drop on Monumental Sports Network.