The Philadelphia Flyers had an effective game plan. Keep the defense alert to every move of Alexander Ovechkin. Shut him down. Don’t let him be the deciding factor. It worked well. Very well. Until tonight.
Ovechkin broke out of a mini-playoff slump to score two third period goals to life the Capitals over the Flyers and even the series at 3-3 and send the series Finale to the Verizon Center tomorrow night. The Caps trailed int he Stanley Cup playoff series 3 games to 1, but have stormed back with back to back impressive performances.
The Capitals had every reason to be concerned early in the second period when Daniel Briere scored just 1:18 into the second to give the Flyers a daunting 2-0 lead in the friendly confines of the Wachovia Center. All was well in Philly. Both Philadelphia and Washington had 12 shots each int he first period.
But, midway through the second period, the Capitals broke out on a 3 on two started by Brooks Laich pass to Alexander Semin, Semin passed to Nicklas Backstrom, Backstrom back to Semin, then Semin back to Backstrom and Backstrom fired away for his 3rd goal of the playoffs and move the Capitals within 1. Backstrom has scored all three goals after being moved to the second line with Semin and Laich, being replaced on Line 1 by Sergei Fedorov. Nine minutes later, Alexander Semin took a rebound from a long slap shot by John Erskine and skited the puck past a diving Marty Biron to even the score at 2-2, a goal that effectively silenced the Wachovia Center. The second period ended with a 2-2 deadlock. The Caps out shot the Flyers 16-15 in the second.
The third period belonged to Mr. Ovechkin. Ovie scored his first goal of the period in less than 3 minutes into the third on a breakaway fed by Victor Kozlov. Biron’s worst nightmare came true as Ovie bore down on a sprawling to put the Capitals into a stunning 3-2 lead. Ovie would strike again less than seven minutes later on a wicked slap shot power play goal to seal the deal and force game 7 and send the series to Washington for the finale, tomorrow night.
After a tough start by Caps G Cristobal Huet, Huet settled in and shut down the Flyers, stopping 33 of 35 shots, including shutting down Philadelphia in 23 shots in the second and third periods.
Multi Point Scorers:
Brooks Laich, 2 assists
Alexander Ovechkin, 2 goals
Alexander Semin, 1 goal, 1 assist
DCPSR PLAYER OF THE GAME: ALEXANDER OVECHKIN, 2 GOALS
Notables:
> Nicklas Backstrom, Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin each have 3 goals in the playoffs.
> Alexander Semin has 8 points, 3 goals and 5 assists, in the 6 playoff games.
> Nicklas Backstrom has 3 goals and 1 assist in the last 3 games.
> Brooks Laich has 4 assists in the last 3 games.
> Steve Emingers and Jon Erskine were both +3 tonight.
> Caps are now 17-6 when Steve Eminger plays.
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