The Cobra
04-24-2016, 10:54 PM
Cobra......This series was a lot closer than most thought mainly because the Caps in game 5 decided to leave their game at home and try to outhit the Flyers playing right into the Philly game of taking the offense from the Caps....then a hot goalie in Neuvirth comes in and closes the door. It almost worked too. The Caps should be favored in the next round vs the Pens....if they stick to their game. The media is already hyping the crap out of OV vs Crosby but don`t believe it....OV is on top of his game and Crosby hasn`t been the same since he got his brains scrambled.
Capitals close out Flyers in six
Frank Seravalli, TSN Senior Hockey Reporter
http://www.tsn.ca/polopoly_fs/1.477555.1461523025%21/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/nicklas-backstrom-john-carlson-alex-ovechkin.jpg
Nicklas Backstrom John Carlson Alex Ovechkin, Len Redkoles/National Hockey League/Getty Images
PHILADELPHIA - The sculptor was practically shaping a bronze cast of Michal Neuvirth (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/michal-neuvirth), ready to immortalize him somewhere on Broad Street in South Philadelphia for his out-of-body playoff performance.
Neuvirth shut out the Capitals for 106 minutes and 72 consecutive saves. He was single-handedly writing the script of one of the most monumental upsets in recent Stanley Cup playoff history, ready to push the President’s Trophy winners to a Game 7 brink without so much as a lick of offence from his teammates.
The sirens of Capitals’ playoff pasts were growing louder with each save. Blowing a 3-0 series lead was about to be added to the hideous list of 3-1, 2-0, 2-0 and 3-1 since 2009 alone.
And then Alex Ovechkin (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/alex-ovechkin) re-wrote Washington’s history.
Ovechkin sidestepped a charging bull in Radko Gudas (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/radko-gudas) and feathered a pass to Marcus Johansson (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/marcus-johansson), who found Nicklas Backstrom (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/nicklas-backstrom) for the one bullet Neuvirth could not shield.
Ovechkin danced in from the blue like Wayne Gretzky after his 802nd goal. It was that big of a monkey off the Capitals’ backs.
For the first time in six Stanley Cup playoff series, the Capitals will not need a Game 7.
Despite a valiant effort from Neuvirth, the Capitals did just enough to knock off Philadelphia with a nail-biting 1-0 victory on Sunday afternoon, eliminating the Flyers in six games.
Washington will take on Pittsburgh to determine Metropolitan Division supremacy beginning later this week, marking the first time Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/sidney-crosby) will meet since their epic second-round clash in 2009.
Based on the way it nearly unraveled for Washington, Pittsburgh will likely open as the favourite, even though the Capitals finished with 11 more points in the regular season than any other NHL team.
Ovechkin, 30, nearly finished with as many goals in the series (three) as the entire Flyers forward corps. Claude Giroux (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/claude-giroux), Brayden Schenn (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/brayden-schenn) and Wayne Simmonds (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/wayne-simmonds) all failed to score
The Flyers’ offence was stymied and shutout twice in six games. They didn’t score a single goal against Braden Holtby (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/braden-holtby) in Game 5, with Washington’s Taylor Chorney (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/taylor-chorney) netting an own-goal and the Flyers added an empty-netted. That trend continued on Sunday. Philadelphia’s average length for shots on goal was more than 40 feet in Game 6, with a staggering six shots traveling more than 50 feet to get to Holtby. They barely so much as tested Holtby.
After the handshakes ended, the Flyers lingered on the ice and stared at the scoreboard, realizing they passed up an all-time performance from their goaltender. Backstrom’s goal came just 24 seconds after the Flyers failed to score on a four-minute power play in the second period, which included a two-man advantage for a full two minutes.
Neuvirth ended up stopping 103 of 105 shots (.980 save percentage) since entering the series in place of Steve Mason (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/steve-mason) for Game 4.
Thanks to him, the Flyers made it much closer - and scarier for the Capitals - than anyone might have envisioned even a week ago.
Capitals close out Flyers in six
Frank Seravalli, TSN Senior Hockey Reporter
http://www.tsn.ca/polopoly_fs/1.477555.1461523025%21/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/nicklas-backstrom-john-carlson-alex-ovechkin.jpg
Nicklas Backstrom John Carlson Alex Ovechkin, Len Redkoles/National Hockey League/Getty Images
PHILADELPHIA - The sculptor was practically shaping a bronze cast of Michal Neuvirth (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/michal-neuvirth), ready to immortalize him somewhere on Broad Street in South Philadelphia for his out-of-body playoff performance.
Neuvirth shut out the Capitals for 106 minutes and 72 consecutive saves. He was single-handedly writing the script of one of the most monumental upsets in recent Stanley Cup playoff history, ready to push the President’s Trophy winners to a Game 7 brink without so much as a lick of offence from his teammates.
The sirens of Capitals’ playoff pasts were growing louder with each save. Blowing a 3-0 series lead was about to be added to the hideous list of 3-1, 2-0, 2-0 and 3-1 since 2009 alone.
And then Alex Ovechkin (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/alex-ovechkin) re-wrote Washington’s history.
Ovechkin sidestepped a charging bull in Radko Gudas (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/radko-gudas) and feathered a pass to Marcus Johansson (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/marcus-johansson), who found Nicklas Backstrom (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/nicklas-backstrom) for the one bullet Neuvirth could not shield.
Ovechkin danced in from the blue like Wayne Gretzky after his 802nd goal. It was that big of a monkey off the Capitals’ backs.
For the first time in six Stanley Cup playoff series, the Capitals will not need a Game 7.
Despite a valiant effort from Neuvirth, the Capitals did just enough to knock off Philadelphia with a nail-biting 1-0 victory on Sunday afternoon, eliminating the Flyers in six games.
Washington will take on Pittsburgh to determine Metropolitan Division supremacy beginning later this week, marking the first time Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/sidney-crosby) will meet since their epic second-round clash in 2009.
Based on the way it nearly unraveled for Washington, Pittsburgh will likely open as the favourite, even though the Capitals finished with 11 more points in the regular season than any other NHL team.
Ovechkin, 30, nearly finished with as many goals in the series (three) as the entire Flyers forward corps. Claude Giroux (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/claude-giroux), Brayden Schenn (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/brayden-schenn) and Wayne Simmonds (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/wayne-simmonds) all failed to score
The Flyers’ offence was stymied and shutout twice in six games. They didn’t score a single goal against Braden Holtby (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/braden-holtby) in Game 5, with Washington’s Taylor Chorney (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/taylor-chorney) netting an own-goal and the Flyers added an empty-netted. That trend continued on Sunday. Philadelphia’s average length for shots on goal was more than 40 feet in Game 6, with a staggering six shots traveling more than 50 feet to get to Holtby. They barely so much as tested Holtby.
After the handshakes ended, the Flyers lingered on the ice and stared at the scoreboard, realizing they passed up an all-time performance from their goaltender. Backstrom’s goal came just 24 seconds after the Flyers failed to score on a four-minute power play in the second period, which included a two-man advantage for a full two minutes.
Neuvirth ended up stopping 103 of 105 shots (.980 save percentage) since entering the series in place of Steve Mason (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/player-bio/steve-mason) for Game 4.
Thanks to him, the Flyers made it much closer - and scarier for the Capitals - than anyone might have envisioned even a week ago.