Game Thread: Game 47 - Philadelphia Flyers at Washington Capitals(1-27-16): 8:00pm EST

[lasgop8]

Pretty impressive to hang with Washington after they stormed back in the second period and erased our two goal lead like it was nothing. They had won 12 straight at home and only 4 other teams have beaten them there all season long. I thought for sure we were going to blow a chance at any points when the penalty on Read was called late in the 3rd, but we killed it off rather easily and won it very early on in the OT.

Really great to see Voracek snipe a couple of them. I don't think that there is a single guy on the team that we'd rather see start scoring at his regular pace again. Read and Umberger would be distant seconds.

With the two assists, Ghost pulls into a three way tie for 6th overall in rookie scoring at 22 points. Everyone ahead of him is a forward that has played in at least 19 more games and as many as 24. Amazingly, he is also tied for 5th on the team in scoring despite missing 18 of our games.

Props to Giroux for really spanking Backstrom in the faceoff circle. 24-8 is pretty damn ridiculous and at least one of them directly led to a goal by Voracek. Also, White gets a goal from the bottom six while we've been beating them senseless here. Umberger continues to struggle however. He had half of the net to look at against Holtby and he double clutches, then shoots it right into the glove. Unreal. That would've made it 3-0.

The seemingly unlikely win thrusts us right back into the playoff race only 5 points back with 1 to 4 games in hand on every team ahead of us. Win those games and we pass at least 4 teams and sit 9th. We're in better position than teams like Carolina, Montreal and Ottawa already, we've just played far fewer games.

Time to get everyone healthy and make a run after the break. If we're not a playoff team, then why do we keep beating the best teams? It's a mystery to me.

Nice to see we could get a win against a quality team even without a full squad.

 

[awaz]

haha, how dumb. Flyers look like ass for a week and half, play the best team in the league (in almost every category) and win.

 

[lasgop8]

haha, how dumb. Flyers look like ass for a week and half, play the best team in the league (in almost every category) and win.

Three different coaches and same inconsistency with the same team , look bad then look great at some point do the players get blamed for it or does another coach have to go before we realize it.

 

[flyersfan4706]

These past few games are the story of the season. Nice win against a great team. There are bursts of potential with this team but I just think there are too many holes this season to really get anywhere.

 

[Cobiemonster]

These past few games are the story of the season. Nice win against a great team. There are bursts of potential with this team but I just think there are too many holes this season to really get anywhere.

I really wonder what the result would have been if the Caps weren't sitting at home for a whole week - when they really got going in the second it had the potential to be a disaster

 

[flyersfan4706]

I really wonder what the result would have been if the Caps weren't sitting at home for a whole week - when they really got going in the second it had the potential to be a disaster

To me the 2nd period just proves that we're mortal. There is potential for something very good when everyone is firing on all cylinders, and we can beat a top team on any given night, but it won't be perfect and our faults showed. But yeah, could have been uglier if the Caps were ready.

Still a net positive IMO. Didn't expect as much as we got last night, encouraging to take a win against a contender on the road. I'd really like to know one way or the other which direction we'll be going post ASG.

 

[lasgop8]

These past few games are the story of the season. Nice win against a great team. There are bursts of potential with this team but I just think there are too many holes this season to really get anywhere.

This is probably true but im hoping to see the 5 win in a row team more than the 5 loss in a row team in the second half

 

[Maverick426h]

Well, I'm looking at it this way. Our record against the east is 14-10-5 and against the west is 7-8-3. We have only 10 more of our 35 games against the west. We're going to gain ground here. It's just a matter of whether we improve enough to secure a wild card or challenge for a top three seed in our division. The Rangers and Islanders are not exactly running away with 2nd and 3rd place. We've already gone into both of their buildings and beaten them up pretty badly.

Here's a stat for you:

We're winless against the four worst teams in the Nhl this season through a combined six games against them.

Turn stats like that one around and keep doing what we're doing and I say we make it in.

It is mostly our 7-10-5 start that is still holding us back now from being in a playoff spot already. I think we've moved past that with Ghost now with us and Voracek scoring.

 

[Maverick426h]

Another important thing I noticed about this game is that instead of Ghost and G playing catch with each other on the very first power play as the Caps clearly expected, Ghost passed it down to Simmonds when they pressed on him and G, which directly led to the goal by Schenn. That was beautiful. For the remainder of the game, Washington sat back a bit more and did not pressure them as much.

Brilliance by Ghost there, but perhaps also good coaching, because it seems like other teams are keying in on those two guys and leaving Simmonds (or Voracek) open. Well, we made them pay for it, which helps keep them and other teams honest.

We need to continue to do that for our power play to flourish. Let Ghost run it from the point and if they are set on blocking the pass to G, then just make a quick move and bomb it on net or find the man they left open. Get guys more involved. I honestly don't think G has to run the show anymore.

 

[lasgop8]

Well, I'm looking at it this way. Our record against the east is 14-10-5 and against the west is 7-8-3. We have only 10 more of our 35 games against the west. We're going to gain ground here. It's just a matter of whether we improve enough to secure a wild card or challenge for a top three seed in our division. The Rangers and Islanders are not exactly running away with 2nd and 3rd place. We've already gone into both of their buildings and beaten them up pretty badly.

Here's a stat for you:

We're winless against the four worst teams in the Nhl this season through a combined six games against them.

Turn stats like that one around and keep doing what we're doing and I say we make it in.

It is mostly our 7-10-5 start that is still holding us back now from being in a playoff spot already. I think we've moved past that with Ghost now with us and Voracek scoring.

We also have to factor in how trades will effect us whether we are buyers of sellers. This team in the past hasn't done well when change happens. I really hope we get a good haul for Streit and if we got a third rounder for Rinaldo we may be able to turn a White into a 2nd rounder. That's all speculation hope if we don't make one move at all we play the way we can and make some progress sneak into the playoffs and get some playoff experience.