The Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-3, to sweep a home-and-home set against their longtime rival and improve to 5-1 on the season. The victory was Washington’s fifth straight, while Philadelphia has now lost six consecutive games.
Taylor Raddysh provided the only goal during the opening period before Nic Dowd and Connor McMichael (twice) stretched the lead to 4-0 for the Caps. Frustratingly for coach Spencer Carbery, the Capitals let off the proverbial gas and allowed a wounded opponent back into the contest. Three straight goals by Philly made for a hectic final 14 minutes of regulation. Empty-net goals by Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Ovechkin ensured the Capitals didn’t suffer a monumental collapse.
Goaltender Logan Thompson remained a perfect 3-0 so far this season, stopping 26 of 29 shots he faced, while Flyers netminder Ivan Fedotov stopped 20 of 24 shots in the loss. The Capitals have outscored opponents 23 to 13 during their current five-game winning streak.
“There was a lot of dicey situations there protecting that lead,” Carbery said. “But we dug in and did enough to get two points against a team that was pretty desperate tonight.”
