Flyers at Capitals
The Washington Capitals look to squeeze a little more juice out of their potent power play in Game 5 on Friday as they attempt to advance to the second round with a victory over the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. Washington was a blistering 8-for-17 with the man advantage en route to winning the first three contests before failing on both opportunities as Philadelphia staved off elimination with Wednesday's 2-1 triumph.
"That was one of the reasons that we won the game," Flyers goaltender and former Capital Michal Neuvirth told NHL.com after making 31 saves in his first action of the series. "That was our goal. And we didn't take any stupid penalties. Just a great team effort for 60 minutes. That's the way we've got to play." Rookie Shayne Gostisbehere ended Philadelphia's 0-for-13 stretch on the power play and fellow defenseman Andrew MacDonald also scored versus Braden Holtby, who has yielded only four tallies on 118 shots for a .966 save percentage and 1.00 goals-against average. "Even with the loss, I think we still have a little momentum coming into the next game," said forward T.J. Oshie, who scored for the first time in the series on Wednesday and extended his playoff point streak to a career-high three games (one goal, three assists).
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, CSN Philadelphia, CSN-DC (Washington)
ABOUT THE FLYERS: After spending the bulk of the season preaching about the bigger picture, coach Dave Hakstol has narrowed the scope quite a bit with Philadelphia having zero margin for error. "We came here (Wednesday) to win a hockey game," Hakstol told reporters. "Now we've got to go on the road and to their building, we got to win a hockey game. It's pretty simple. We get one more and then we'll worry about the next one." Forward Wayne Simmonds and captain Claude Giroux have the opportunity to "worry about the next one" after the former notched two assists and the latter set up a tally on Wednesday for their first points of the series.
ABOUT THE CAPITALS: Rugged Tom Wilson told the Washington Post that he expects to be in the lineup for Game 5 after being left a bit glassy-eyed in the late stages of Wednesday's contest following a solid hit from Philadelphia defenseman Brandon Manning. "It was a hard hit," Wilson told the newspaper on Thursday. "I feel good today, the usual. Nowadays, you've got to be extra careful, so (head athletic trainer Greg Smith) just said, 'Go back, and get checked out.' But I feel good and should be good to go." The status of Brooks Orpik (upper body) is unclear as coach Barry Trotz admitted that he doesn't know if the defenseman will participate in the morning skate prior to Game 5.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia C Scott Laughton was released from the hospital on Thursday, one day after he was removed from the ice on a stretcher following a hit from Washington D John Carlson. Laughton has been ruled out of Game 5.
2. The Capitals have outscored the Flyers by a 7-0 margin in the third period of the series.
3. Several Flyers past and present joined Commissioner Gary Bettman and Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky among others in attending a public memorial service on Thursday for owner Ed Snider, who died after a two-year battle with bladder cancer on April 11.