Ovi’s big day wasted: Flyers beat Caps 7-4

Ovi’s big day wasted: Flyers beat Caps 7-4

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The Washington Capitals are hosting the Philadelphia Flyers for an extremely entertaining – if not extremely frustrating – Super Bowl Sunday.

Alex Ovechkin got on the scoreboard early and refused to get off it. He passed the power play and set up Tom Wilson for a magnificent goal. Scott Laughton scored the diaper for the Flyers and scored two goals in the second period.

Ovechkin responded with his second goal of the game, a slap from the blue line. But then the Flyers tied it (Robert Hagg) and then took the lead (James van Riemdsyk) and kicked Vitek Vanecek out of the net for the first time. Before the second period was over, Alex Ovechkin found Nicklas Backstrom in the paint to tie it up again.

And on the first inning of the third period, Sean Couturier regained the lead for Philly. Then Scott Laughton got the hat trick, and then Sean Couturier made an attack on an empty goal kick.

Caps lost.

  • Nick Jensen had a first period of a monster, which saved two almost certain goals with a tremendous game on his own side. He’s usually an underrated player, but we’ve probably already heard his name early on in this one.
  • And then we heard Alex Ovechkin‘sit up. With a monster-individual performance, Ovechkin looked a decade younger. He scored two goals and created two more and showed great in a big game. Ian will have more on this, but I want to call out this play, where Ovi carried the shooter in the zone, danced around Philippe Myers and then set up Tom Wilson for a purpose. Ovi did this move earlier every game, but that was in 2009.
  • On the other side, Vitek Vanecek had a real stinker, his first of the year. You can use your own calculator to determine how many of these goals were properly on him, but in the end he gave up four goals on 14 strokes – a saving percentage of .710. Craig Anderson made his first appearance in the game for the Caps in relief. I have nothing to say about him except that I think he’s a swelling fella.
  • Insofar as today’s game was an entertaining blockbuster, it’s mainly because the Flyers managed on relatively few chances to score many goals. The Caps got the knuckle more and they did more with it, but in the end it was a game of goals.
  • With the Caps down 5-4 in the third period, people had rumors Zdeno Chara stuck a double minor for a high adhesive (for him: nipple level), which forced the large Caps PK unit to be good for four minutes. They were.
  • I watched the whole game and still do not know who Philippe Maillet is. The 28-year-old AHLer made his NHL debut today.

No Joe B. Here’s a hug:

The Caps have lost three consecutive games. There are a few mondo matches outside of their top line, but they just do not have a full team at the moment, neither in the roster nor in the performance of the roster. Could not buy a savings.

Big bummer.

RMNB cover of flyer caps

Screenshot thanks to NBC Sports

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