Capitals at Flyers
With little margin for error, Michal Neuvirth has been nearly perfect in helping his current team claw back in its first-round series against his former one. Neuvirth looks to help the upstart Philadelphia Flyers even their set with the Presidents' Trophy-winning Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon when the Metropolitan Division rivals play Game 6 in the City of Brotherly Love.
Neuvirth replaced an ineffective Steve Mason and made 31 saves in a 2-1 victory on Wednesday before turning aside all 44 shots he faced two nights later for his second career postseason shutout in a 2-0 win. "I like to face a lot of shots. It keeps me in the game," the 28-year-old Neuvirth said after his team was outshot by a 4-to-1 margin (44-11). Braden Holtby made 10 saves, but saw fourth-liner Ryan White receive credit for the Flyers' first goal after the puck caromed off the skate of Washington defenseman Taylor Chorney before Chris VandeVelde sealed the win with an empty-net tally. "We put a lot of pucks on net and didn't get any to trickle through," Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner said. "We have to hope the goalie over there cools off and some of those (shots) find a way in."
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ABOUT THE CAPITALS: Washington's disappointing postseason performances are well documented, so much so that Barry Trotz feels he's on the defensive even though he's only been the club's coach for one month shy of two years. "Everybody talks about all the past, the past, the past," Trotz said. "The only pressure that we'll have is on ourselves. We've got to go into Philadelphia and we've got to play really well and get a win there. If we don't accomplish that, then it will go to Game 7 (on Wednesday)." The Capitals have won just one of their past nine opportunities to close out a playoff series - with a 1-6 mark under Trotz.
ABOUT THE FLYERS: Citing his team's "bend but don't break" mindset, rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was quick to look for positives after seeing the ice tilted for much of Friday's contest. "Game 6 is back in our place, and we have a lot of confidence going forward with our group," Gostisbehere told Philly.com. "It doesn't go by shots. It goes by goals." Philadelphia has mustered just six of those and Gostisbehere's goal in Game 4 is the team's lone score on the power play in 21 chances.
OVERTIME
1. Washington D Brooks Orpik traveled with the team to Philadelphia after missing Games 4 and 5 with an upper-body injury, but Trotz did not reveal his status for Sunday's tilt.
2. Injured Flyers C Sean Couturier (upper body) skated on his own Saturday, but is still expected to miss the rest of this series.
3. Philadelphia is one of four NHL teams to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games. The Flyers, who upset Boston in a 2010 second-round series, are joined by Toronto (1942), the New York Islanders (1975) and Los Angeles (2014) in that group.