Hello All,

The Capitals entered tonight coming off three straight impressive wins over TBL, PIT, and BOS. The Caps were expected to win tonight against a Flyers team that has only mustered 57 points on the season. However, for as good as the Caps have been as of late, the Flyers always seem to give them trouble. This could have easily been considered a "trap" game. Well throw all those narratives out the window because the Capitals absolutely crushed the Flyers by a score of 9-2. This had to be one of the most lop-sided games I have watched in the last couple years. Anytime you can lay the smackdown on a division foe, it feels a little exta special.

Here are the stats from the game:

Shots on Goal:
WSH – 37
PHI – 21

Shots on Goal (5v5):
WSH – 30
PHI – 17

Corsi For %:
WSH – 60.58%
PHI – 39.42%

Corsi For % (5v5):
WSH – 56.98%
PHI – 43.02%

Power Play:
WSH – 1/4
PHI – 0/3

Hits:
WSH – 17
BOS – 22

Blocks:
WSH – 15
PHI – 13

Scoring Chances For:
WSH – 30
PHI – 19

Scoring Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 27
PHI – 16

High Danger Chances For:
WSH– 16
PHI – 9

High Danger Chances For (5v5):
WSH – 13
PHI – 7

My Takeaways:

Offensive Explosion - Name any player for the Caps and they likely recorded a point tonight. When looking at the box score, 16 of the 18 skaters for the Caps registered at least a point in this game. 10 players registered at least two points. The only two players to not register a point for the Caps were defenseman Nick Jensen and forward Marcus Johansson. How in the world did MoJo not get in on the action? Classic Caps Deadline acquisition under producing

Alex Ovechkin - Ovechkin opened the scoring for the game by netting his 46th goal on the season. This was Ovechkin's 131st time scoring the first goal of the game which ties Brett Hull for 2nd most of all-time. He now only trails Jaromir Jagr by four game opening goals to be #1. The goal Ovi scored is #776 in his career. He now needs 25 goals to tie Gordie Howe for 2nd all-time. He now needs 118 goals to tie Wayne Gretzky for the all-time lead. It will happen.

Lars Eller - Fresh off his game-winning goal against Boston, Eller scored two goals on five shots. He also had a 62% faceoff percentage. The Caps could really use a confident and hot Lars Eller down the stretch. His third line production and presence is vital for the Caps if they are to compete with some of the depth of the tops teams like Florida and Carolina.

Justin Schultz -Schultz had three assists in the third period alone. This ties Nick Jensen (3A on March 8th against the Calgary Flames) and John Carlson (1G-2A on March 6th against the Tampa Bay Lightning) for most points in a period this season by a Capital.

First Goals - Matt Irwin filled in for the Injured Dmitry Orlov and scored his first goal as a Capital. It was a great shot from the point through traffic. Johan Larsson also scored on the power play late in the game. This also is his first goal as a Capital. I really like how Larsson has filled in on the 4th line for the Caps.

Listen, I could go on and on about how awesome of a game this was for the Caps. It truly was a beautiful beat down. This is exactly the kind of game you want to see after a tough but productive three-game stretch against TBL, PIT, and BOS. The Caps are getting hott at the right time! If they can somehow manage to sneak out of the wild card positioning and avoid the Panthers...watch out! Maybe I am crazy, but I also think the Panthers are beatable. Yes, they keep scoring goals and coming back from 3-goal and 4-goal deficits to win games. But what kind of super team constantly digs themselves into three-goal and four-goal deficits? A beatable one. The Caps wont be favored in any potential series matchup but you can guarantee they will be one tough out.

Honorable Mention for the Flyers:

Bobby Brink - The kid looked solid out there. He had some great passes and great all-around plays. Brink did get a secondary assist on the late 4-on-3 power play goal with about 3.5 minutes left in the game.

Next Up, the Capitals travel to Toronto to face the mostly hot Maple Leafs. Matthews is chasing 60...maybe 65. Ovechkin is chasing 50 again. Should be a great game. I sure hope our goaltending and defense are ready to lock it down! Thanks for reading and GO CAPS!


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Stats/Facts/Video Clips Provided By:

nhl.com/stats
hockey-reference.com
naturalstattrick.com
@CapitalsPR Twitter page
@Capitals Twitter page
@HerseyBears Twitter page
>>>Follow me on Twitter @HB_Capitals<<<

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