The Washington Capitals have one of the most potent offenses in the entire league and on Tuesday night, they made it perfectly clear, that if anyone hopes to beat them, they better make sure to put them away when they have the chance. Philadelphia was unable to do so, despite being up 2-0 late in the 2nd period.
The Capitals were down one goal after Scott Hartnell scored on the powerplay, early in the period, but appeared poised to even things up when the Flyers took minor penalties within 20 seconds of each other. However, the Caps’ usually lethal special teams unit failed to score, while Philadelphia took advantage of their next powerplay opportunity to give themselves a commanding 2-0 lead in a game they had dominated physically and in controlling the flow of play.
However, in the last five minutes of the 2nd, and for the duration of the 3rd, the Capitals’ offense came to life, and Jose Theodore turned in an outstanding performance in net, stopping all 20 shots the Flyers threw at him in the 3rd period, including a penalty shot for Darrell Powe. As usual, Alex Ovechkin played a large role in the Caps’ success, scoring the first goal of the game and adding an empty netter to ice the game in the closing minutes.
Also contributing for the Caps was Alex Semin, who had missed the last two games. Semin came back strong, assisting on Ovechkin’s goal and Nicklas Backstrom’s powerplay goal, also in the 2nd. Semin added a goal of his own, his 7th of the season. That top line of Ovechkin, Semin and Backstrom has been one of the most productive in the league this year. Ovechkin leads the league with 11 goals and leads the East with 19 points. Backstrom has only 3 goals but is 2nd in the league with 12 assists. Semin has 13 points, despite missing the past two games with minor injuries.
The most satisfying thing about the Caps’ recent play has been the consistency of Jose Theodore. Theodore ranks in the top 3 goalies in the league in save percentage with a very solid .922. He also has a 2.47 GAA and has won his last three games. With Washington’s loaded offense, goaltending was thought to be the X-factor in determining their level of success this season. If Theodore can keep this up, Washington will be very scary down the stretch.