Capitals at Flyers
The Washington Capitals have benefited from stellar special teams play and a 101-foot goal to win the initial two contests of their first-round series with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Presidents' Trophy-winning Capitals look to push their Metropolitan Division rivals to the brink of elimination on Monday when the series shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3.
Defenseman John Carlson scored a power-play goal in each contest for the Capitals, who are 3-for-8 with the man advantage and thwarted all eight short-handed situations. Jason Chimera was credited with the game-winning tally in Saturday's 4-1 victory, albeit with a tip-in from center ice that somehow saw the puck squeeze between the pads of Steve Mason. The humiliating gaffe was so unfathomable that Washington's Braden Holtby admittedly felt for his fellow goaltender. "I couldn't even watch the replay of it," said Holtby, who has looked every bit the front-runner for the Vezina Trophy by stopping 60-of-61 shots in the series. "Even as an opposing team, you want to earn your goals and what-not (instead of) weird bounces like that. I feel for him."
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, CSN-DC (Washington), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE CAPITALS: Captain Alex Ovechkin traditionally has tormented the Flyers with his scoring, but the 240-pound Russian has also lowered the boom with his physical play (11 hits). Ovechkin sidelined Sean Couturier for the rest of the series with a crushing hit in Game 1 and deposited Brayden Schenn over the boards and into the laps of his teammates on Saturday, signaling a shift in the momentum of Game 2. "Sometimes you just have to play physical," Ovechkin told the Washington Post. "If you don't have an opportunity to do something else, you play physical. You play simple and the other guys are going to follow you."
ABOUT THE FLYERS: Although held without a point in the first two games, captain Claude Giroux was encouraged by Philadelphia's 42-23 edge in shots Saturday and expressed optimism that the series shifts to the Wells Fargo Center. "We've been playing well at home this year," Giroux told Philly.com of the Flyers, who posted a 23-10-8 mark in the City of Brotherly Love - including a 2-1 shootout victory over visiting Washington on March 30. Jakub Voracek has scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who were unable to grab their first lead of the series after failing to convert during 67 seconds of a 5-on-3 power play late in the opening period of Game 2.
OVERTIME
1. A video tribute of Philadelphia chairman and founder Ed Snider is scheduled prior to the opening faceoff for Game 3. Snider died last Monday after a two-year battle with bladder cancer.
2. The Capitals have coughed up a 2-0 or 3-1 series lead on 10 occasions in franchise history while the Flyers have overcome an 0-2 deficit three times - with the last in 2010 versus Boston.
3. With Ovechkin throwing his weight around, Philadelphia recalled RW Colin McDonald (6-2, 214 pounds) from Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Sunday.