In their most recent games, the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers experienced a whirlwind of emotions in — of all moments — the final second.
Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of the NHL’s all-time goals record continues Thursday when the high-scoring superstar leads the visiting Capitals against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Washington’s 6-3 win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday featured a goal and two assists from Nic Dowd, but what really sent the fans home happy was Ovechkin’s empty-netter with 0.1 seconds remaining.
The goal was Ovechkin’s 25th of the season and the 878th of his legendary career. He needs 16 more tallies to reach Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record of 894 goals.
“Something special is happening,” Capitals foward Tom Wilson said. “The poise for him to fake the shot with three seconds left and then put it in with a 10th of a second left, it’s because it’s Gretzky, I guess. We’ll just keep chasing here, and it’s pretty amazing to see that one go in with that much time left.”
Aliaksei Protas added a goal and an assist for Washington, including an impressive feed to Wilson for a second-period short-handed tally.
“That’s a great play from Pro,” Wilson said of Protas, who ranks second on the team in goals (22) and points (45). “He is having a heck of a year. I’m really proud of all the work he has put in and the player he is becoming. It’s awesome to see. He is an elite talent now in the league, just a really high IQ and making good plays. It’s fun to be out there with him.”
Meanwhile, Philadelphia’s last-second drama during its most recent game fell on the opposite end of the emotional spectrum. The Flyers allowed Utah’s Dylan Guenther to score with under a second remaining in overtime in a crushing 3-2 road defeat on Tuesday.
The loss was the fourth in a row for the Flyers, who were shut out in three consecutive games prior to Tuesday’s defeat. The team finally got on the scoreboard 2:02 into the contest on Rodrigo Abols’ first NHL goal, but ultimately there still wasn’t enough offensive pressure.
“To start the game the way that we did, that was something we talked about that we wanted to do,” Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim said. “But we need to continue ways to generate (offense) and get more looks.”
Samuel Ersson allowed the decisive goal but also consistently bailed out the Flyers with a career-high 39 saves.
“We were just too sloppy with the puck as far as turnovers. And let’s face it, we’re wounded. We’ve got five or six guys out,” Philadelphia coach John Tortorella said. “The trade, the injuries, we cannot play a style of letting a team play 140 feet, especially a skilled team like that.”
This is the third of four meetings between the Flyers and Capitals this season. The teams played on back-to-back nights in October, and Washington won both meetings.
Ovechkin went scoreless in the first meeting before adding an empty-netter in the second matchup. He has scored 50 goals in 76 career games against the Flyers. The only team he has scored more goals against is the Carolina Hurricanes (51 in 91 games).
–Field Level Media
