After falling to the Capitals in game 5 in Washington on Saturday 5-4, the Flyers knew they had to come out physical early in game 6, much like their first two home games of the series, and that is exactly what they did. When the Flyers come out strong physically early on in the contest, they tend to get the early lead on the scoreboard and Monday night was no exception. But when it was all said and done, the Caps reigned supreme and forced a game 7 back in Washington.

Mike Richards opened up the scoring at 3:49 on a power play goal. He got a great feed from Kimmo Timonen which he put up high, beating Cristobal Huet high over his blocker side. The Flyers were playing physical in the first and were making good passes. With the Capitals forced to play their game, the Flyers seemed comfortable.

In the second stanza the Flyers opened up on the power play and at 1:18 Danny Briere put the Vinny Prospal pass behind Huet, once again up high. The Flyers power play was ranked second in the regular season but was only 10th in the playoffs. With that tally the orange and black were content to make their special teams a priority once again. After they got the 2-0 lead the Flyers seemed confident, something Briere said the Flyers felt too much in game 5. That seemed to be evident because shortly after that power play goal the tables turned.

Rookie sensation Nicklas Backstrom scored on the “toe” of a tic-tac-toe pass from Alexander Semin on a 3-on-2 rush at 9:34. Continuing to chop away at the lead, the Caps scored again at 18:03 of the second stanza when Semin, who has been one of Washington’s best this series, put a rebound behind Marty Biron. Biron made the initial glove save on a John Erskine slap shot from the point, but the shot redirected off Biron’s glove and right out in front. The goaltender had no way of getting to the puck. Biron was stellar in the first and second periods, keeping the Flyers in the game despite facing more shots than his opponent. Heading into the third period tied, the Flyers appeared to be lucky to have the game that close.

The third period started out as more of the same for the rejuvenated Capitals who did something very difficult; silenced the raucous Wachovia Center crowd. Alexander Ovechkin was held scoreless since game one until he tipped a Kimmo Timonen pass to himself, and scored on a breakaway at 2:46 of the third roofing it up over a defenseless Biron. He tallied again at 10:41 when Brooks Laich put a pass right in Ovie’s wheelhouse and he slapped his second goal of the game past Biron. The second goal sucked all the energy out of the building for the Flyers who lacked a sense of urgency like they did in games 5 and part of 4. Remnants of game 5 became evident as to add injury to the insult of scoring four unanswered goals, the Caps also played more physically than the Flyers.

Prior to the game Bill Clement said this game 5 matchup was “the will of the Capitals to survive against the will of the Flyers to conquer.” Monday night, the Flyers clearly didn’t want it. They once again looked sluggish in the last 20 minute session. Once they had the two goal advantage the Flyers seemed to sit on their slim lead and let up physically, allowing a clear path for the Capitals to come back. They could not set up in the offensive zone and failed to score on a 5-on-3 advantage. If the Flyers play this same way on Tuesday at 7:00 in game 7, they will have no shot to advance and play the Montreal Canadiens. The only thing that could have made this game more painful to witness was having to listen to Pierre McGuire (an old link but A. it mentions Jeff Carter and B. three years later, it’s as true as ever).

Dave’s 3 Stars of the Game

1. Alexander Ovechkin - 2 goals
2. Alexander Semin - 1 goal 1 assist
3. Nicklas Backstrom - 1 goal

Photo courtesy capitals.nhl.com