WASHINGTON — In the face of Flyers nightmare-inducer Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, Flyers goalie Carter Hart didn’t bat an eyelash.
After Ovechkin tied Saturday night’s game at CapitalOne Arena in the first period, 1-1, Hart repelled and smothered each puck that came his way to help the Flyers to a 3-1 victory. He bailed his team out during weak defensive stretches, giving the Flyers the support to get back on the attack. The Flyers scored twice in the second period thanks to wingers James van Riemsdyk and Wade Allison, building upon the first goal of the game scored by center Scott Laughton on a power play.
The Capitals came out strong in the third period in a comeback attempt, peppering Hart with 11 shots on goal to the Flyers’ two in the first eight and a half minutes. However, Hart stood tall all night long, denying 39 of 40 shots for his 13th victory of the season.
The Flyers have scored three or more goals in 13 of their last 18 games, going 9-3-1 when they do so. The Flyers have won three straight and seven of their last eight.
Hart of gold
The Capitals came out to a much better start than they did on Wednesday, creating nine scoring chances to the Flyers’ two in the first period, according to Natural Stat Trick. Hart was called on to step up when the Flyers defense wasn’t getting the job done. On the Capitals’ first power play of the night just three minutes into the opening frame, Hart came up with a glove save on a point-blank Tom Wilson shot from the slot. He also denied T.J. Oshie on a partial breakaway with a couple of minutes left in the first.
Hart carried over his strong first-period play into the second, denying all 14 Capitals shots on goal. But in the middle frame, Hart received more help from his teammates in front of him, limiting the Capitals to eight scoring chances while generating 10 of their own. The third period welcomed in another strong effort from the Capitals, who generated 19 shots on goal, but Hart continued to deny them.
Power play cashes in
Since the start of January, the Flyers have made improvements to their power play, scoring on 22.2% of their opportunities (15th in the league) going into Saturday. They continued to build on their power-play momentum when center Lars Eller was called for tripping winger Zack MacEwen with seven minutes remaining in the first period.
Just 11 seconds into the penalty, the Flyers cashed in. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo shot the puck from the blue line, deflecting off of the blade of Laughton’s stick and past Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper to give the Flyers the 1-0 lead. Laughton now has five power-play goals, which ties winger Travis Konecny for the team high. Laughton is up to 11 goals this season through 39 games, tying his total from last year, which he accomplished in 67 games. The Flyers’ power play went 1 for 4 through 60 minutes.
Two goals, 49 seconds
While the Capitals carried some momentum from Ovechkin’s first-period goal into the opening minutes of the second, the Flyers found a way to take advantage of their opponent’s mistakes. Five minutes into the frame, Kuemper played the puck up the wall right on the tape of center Morgan Frost. He passed the puck into the corner for winger Owen Tippett, whose feed for van Riemsdyk drew Kuemper out of his crease. Van Riemsdyk cashed in on an open net to pull ahead, 2-1.
The Flyers continued to pour on the pressure in the offensive zone, and they struck again just 49 seconds after van Riemsdyk’s goal. After Laughton won an offensive-zone draw and shot the puck on net, forward Kevin Hayes collected the rebound. He took the puck behind the net, then found Allison for the goal through traffic to make it 3-1.
What’s next
The Flyers continue their road trip against the Boston Bruins at 1 p.m. Monday.
