It was a stark contrast from games 3 and 4. The Washington Capitals came out energized, playing with force, hitting hard, and at times dominating the ice. It worked. The Capitals forced Game 6 against Philadelphia by beating the Flyers 3-2 and putting the series at 3-2.
Nicklas Backstrom started the Caps off with a sweet cross the ice pass from Alexander Semin to score on the power play and make it 1-0. It was Backstrom’s second playoff goal, and second since being moved to Line 2. Caps out shot Philadelphia 12-4 in the first period.
Sergei Fedorov put the caps up 2-0 just a minute and half into the second period. The goal was assisted by Victor Kozlov and Mike Green. Vaclav Prospal scored to move the Flyers to within 1 and end the second period 2-1.
The third period rang a different tune as Philadelphia dominated ice time at the Caps end and out shot the Caps 21-6. But the Caps defense stepped up several times on some big plays, one nice diving play by Tom Poti that likely saved a goal. Te Capitals would take a 3-1 lead on a powerful middle shot by Alexander Semin. The Caps did a nice job on the power play putting Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich in front of the new to screen Flyers goalie Marty Biron. The insurance goal would last not even a minute when Derian Hatcher scored for Philly to move the game back to a 1 goal lead. That is where it would end. Cristobal Huet finished it off for the in, despite a flurry of shots with an empty net on the Flyers end. He stopped 30 of 32 shots.
The Caps team that took the ice tonight looked like the caps teams that won 10 of their last 11. They took shots, pounded the board, and played a super physical game, taking the Flyers out of their element. They out hit Philly 44-38 led by 7 hits from Donald Brashear who I thought played a super game tonight, 5 hits from David Steckel, and 4 hits each from Matt Bradley, Matt Cooke, and Shaone Morrisonn.
Multi-Point Scorers:
- Alexander Semin, 1 G, 1 Asst
- Mike Green, 2 Assts
- Sergei Fedorov, 1 G, 1 Asst
DCPSR PLAYER OF THE GAME: ALEXANDER SEMIN
Notables:
* I really like the way Matt Bradley and Matt Cooke play together. They seem to read each other well and provide some great hitting together. Hopefully the Caps give strong consideration to re-inking both.
* Caps are now 16-6 with Steve Eminger on the ice.
* Alex Ovechkin had a great game tonight, getting a ton of shots. Although he didn’t net a goal, Ovechkin was a force, getting close several times, and putting up a great screen on the Semin power play goal. Ovechkin recorded 3 hits, had 6 shots on goal, and was on the ice for 22:38, averaging just over 1 minute per shift.
* Alexander Semin continues to excel more and more each game. Semin had some wicked slap shots tonight, rebuffed by Biron 5 times before putting it in the net.
GAME 6: Monday in Philadelphia
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