Capitals win eighth straight, take division lead
WASHINGTON -- Justin Williams and Matt Niskanen each scored twice within a five-minute span of the third period, Philipp Grubauer stopped 24 shots and the Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-0 on Sunday at Verizon Center for their ninth straight win.
Washington (29-9-5), the defending Presidents' Trophy winner, moved ahead of idle Columbus for first place in the Metropolitan Division as well as for the overall NHL points lead.
With Braden Holtby being rested ahead of Monday night's game at Pittsburgh, Grubauer stopped an early Flyers surge and picked up his second career shutout.
Andre Burakovsky scored Washington's first goal and Nicklas Backstrom had two assists.
The Capitals managed just 10 shots in two periods and led 1-0 before the Williams-Niskanen outburst.
Flyers goalie Steve Mason (12 saves) was lifted after Williams made it 5-0 with 13:24 left in the game.
Philadelphia (22-18-6) fell to 3-8-3 in its last 14 games. The Flyers went 0 of 5 on the power play.
Washington, which notched its 1,500th franchise win, played the final two periods without defenseman John Carlson, who left with a lower-body injury.
The Flyers outshot the Capitals 13-5 in the first period but were unable to cash in despite a two power plays. Grubauer was solid, especially early in the period when he stopped Mark Streit in front and then Dan Weise on the rebound attempt.
Washington led 1-0 thanks to a power-play goal at 9:08 of the second period. Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto flubbed a clearing attempt and Burakovsky corraled the puck and fired high past Mason from the slot for his sixth goal of the season.
Philadelphia came close to tying the score twice.
First, Radko Gudas' high shot from beyond the blue line fooled Grubauer and went in, but the play was whistled offside. Then, with the Flyers on a power play later in the period, Streit hit the post.
The Capitals put it away early in the third period thanks to a couple of highlight reel passing plays.
Marcus Johansson helped make it 2-0 at 1:36 of the period when he started behind Mason and then sent a perfect backhand pass in front to Williams, who roofed it.
Less than two minutes later, Backstrom entered the zone two-on-one with Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin took the feed in the left circle, but rather than shoot as Mason slid across, Ovechkin centered the puck to a streaking Niskanen, who fired into a wide-open net.
Niskanen made it 4-0 when his blast from the right pointed deflected off Mason's glove and in. He entered the day with two goals on the season.
Williams completed the outburst at 6:36 when he scored in front off a feed from Backstrom for his 14th goal of the season.
That ended Mason’s day as former Capitals goalie Michael Neuvirth finished.
NOTES: Prior to the game, the Capitals held a ceremony honoring C Nicklas Backstrom, who recently recorded his 500th career assist, becoming the first Washington player to do so. ... D Taylor Chorney and C Chandler Stephenson, who was recalled Saturday from Hershey, were the Washington scratches. ... D Shayne Gostisbehere, a healthy scratch Saturday against the Bruins, was back in the Philadelphia lineup. ... The Flyers scratched D Brandon Manning, D Nick Schultz and RW Matt Read. ... The Flyers begin their bye week after Sunday's game and are off until they host the Devils on Saturday.