Take Out the Trash: Caps beat Flyers 6-1

In Game Three, the Washington Capitals magnanimously spotted an early goal to the grieving Philadelphia Flyers. But dirty play by the home team squandered that good will, so the Flyers had to be put down. Without mercy.

Philadelphia, feeling the high of a pregame tribute to Ed Snider, scored in the first minute off the stick of Michael Raffl. The Caps returned fire with a power-play goal, Marcus Johansson’s tip-in of John Carlson’s slapper.

Alex Ovechkin scored the lone goal of the second period, the end result of some great neutral-zone work by the top line.

In the third, Evgeny Kuznetsov joined the rodeo, grabbing a weird bounce and pantsing Steve Mason to put the Flyers in a two-goal hole. Alex Ovechkin buried it during a supersized power play late in the game, but a bunch of hardcore Philly fans had already headed towards the exit by then. They didn’t even see Jay Beagle make it a six spot.

Caps beat Flyers 6-1! Caps take a 3-0 series lead!

Playoff Bailamos!

• Wells Fargo was hyped early in this one. The wave of good feeling from the Ed Snider tribute carried the home team to a quick start and an early goal. It didn’t last, but here’s that video:

Players and fans paid tribute to @NHLFlyers founder and chairman Ed Snider in their 1st home game since his passinghttps://t.co/aAdlLDR1U3

— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) April 19, 2016

• A Flyers fan sitting behind Pierre McGuire was caught flipping off Brooks Orpik. This was a tone setter for the evening. Keep this in mind for the next bullet.
• The game’s tension ratcheted up quickly as good will evaporated, culminating in Philadelphia’s Ryan White injuring Brooks Orpik. White arguably targeted Orpik’s head, though Orpik’s leg appeared lame. Wells Fargo center booed as he left. We don’t know Orpik’s status.
• At his exit, Orpik had been on the ice for 5 Caps shot attempts and 14 Flyers shot attempts during 5v5. He was also on the ice for two Flyers goals in the last two games, both the result of failing to clear the crease that he is paid to clear. I’d feel a lot better about this bullet if Orpik weren’t in the quiet room as I typed it, but it’d seem disingenuous if I didn’t mention it.
• On a lighter note, play was halted in the second period when a second puck mysteriously landed on the ice surface. This is decidedly against the rules of hockey, but how cool would it be? You ever play the Star Trek: The Next Generation pinball machine at the bowling alley? When you hit multiball, that’s gonzo action right there. Gary Bettman, are you reading this?
• Braden Holtby recorded his second career playoff point on the Kuznetsov goal. He also saved a bunch of shots, but I don’t wanna be repetitive.
• Steve Mason: Escape Goat. Or is it Ryan White? I don’t know. It was an escape goat rodeo up there.
• Okay, I know it’s the playoffs, but let’s just do this real quick. There can be no debate.

• Nate Schmidt was on track to have another light duty night (like his 7 minutes in Game One), but the Orpik injury demanded he step up. Twelve minutes and way underwater in shot attempts.
• Alex Ovechkin‘s two goals and assist put him at 74 playoff points, giving him sole possession of the franchise lead, two better than Dale Hunter’s 72.
• That John Carlson goal was his third of the postseason, tying him with Mike Green for most playoff goals in a season during the Ovechkin era. He’s been beyond good, simply boiling over with confidence in his position as the high man on the power play.
• Also great beyond the telling: Marcus Johansson, whom some of us (including me) once deigned to call “soft”. Marcus has five points these playoffs and pretty much all of them were hard earned in the paint and under fire. We were wrong, he is hardcore like Henry fricking Rollins.
• The Flyers, who are losers, acted out in their impotence. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare viciously boarded Dmitry Orlov with 8 minutes left– the kind of play that ends careers. Orlov was fine, thank goodness. The refs dispensed justice and then the Flyers PA man implored fans to stop throwing trash on the ice. They did not.
• Then Ovechkin scored again. Then the Flyers fans took their bracelets, dedicated to the memory of the team’s founder, and they threw them on the ice too, so Jay Beagle had to show ’em what’s what. F this place.

Joe B suit of the night

Secondary scoring in the postseason? I didn’t know this was possible. It’s such a new feeling– watching goals come easy, having absolute unwavering faith in the goaltender, waiting with rapt excitement for who will score next.

This is the most fun I’ve had watching Caps playoff hockey in 7 years.

The opponent gets frustrated? The Caps bury them in goals. The other team gets dirty? The Caps bury them in goals. The opponent’s fans throw trash and then leave to beat traffic? Goals, goals goals. There is no better response. Except for possibly dancing. Let’s dance.

For the first time in franchise history, Washington has a 3-0 series lead. On Wednesday the Caps have a chance at a sweep, which would be appropriate given the rancid trash that has been Flyers hockey this series.

Full RMNB Coverage of Game Three