Mar 30, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Jakub Voracek (93) battles with Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) during the second period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 30, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Jakub Voracek (93) battles with Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) during the second period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
Looking ahead to their playoff matchup, the Philadelphia Flyers played the Washington Capitals four times this season, splitting the series
The Philadelphia Flyers face a tall task in their first round matchup with the Washington Capitals. It wouldn’t be hard to make the case that the Caps are the best team in the NHL. They have the league’s best goal scorer in Alex Ovechkin, two great centers in Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeni Kuznetsov, a solid defense, and an outstanding goalie.
Despite all these assets, when the Flyers played the Caps during the regular season it was no mismatch. The two teams split the regular season series, and every game was hard fought. Here, we’ll run over all four games, and see what they can tell us what to watch for this playoff series starting Thursday night.
Next: Game 1 - November 12
Nov 12, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds (17) watches as puck gets past Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70) during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. Goal was scored by Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (28) (not pictured). Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
Four Unanswered Goals Seals Game for Caps
In this game all the way back in November, the Flyers got off to a pretty good start. The Philadelphia Flyers led 1-0 and 2-1, but then the Caps turned it on. The Caps scored 4 unanswered goals, including 2 on power plays. By the time it was over it was 5-2 final for the Caps, and the Flyers only managed 20 shots on goal while conceding 32.
In Hindsight:
This seems like ancient history now, but the Flyers 4th line on this day was Gagner-Schenn-Lecavalier. Schenn and Schultz were the Flyers best pair in terms of possession.
Nicklas Backstrom played with Marcus Johansson and Andre Burakovsky against Giroux, Voracek and Raffl. They controlled Corsi, 12-5 (71%).
Couturier, Simmonds and Read took on Ovechkin with good success. Ovechkin was pointless and was ~33% in possession.
Steve Mason was in net for all 5 goals.
The teams were credited with 66 combined hits, quite a physical game.
Backstrom had good possession, but it didn’t come from winning draws. He only won 33% (5/15), mostly against Giroux.
Next: Game 2 - January 27
Voracek OT Beauty Wins It
Fast forward 2.5 months, and the Philadelphia Flyers lineup looks a lot more recognizable. This was the final game before the all-star break, but the Flyers lineup was pretty close to what it is now. On this night, the Flyers jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but the Caps scored 2 goals less than minute apart in the second to tie the game. Ultimately the Flyers kept battling, and 2 goals by Voracek sealed an overtime victory.
In Hindsight:
Sean Couturier was out injured for this game. The Caps played a first line of Oshie-Backstrom-Ovechkin, which the Flyers answered with Giroux-Simmonds-Voracek. They kept Ovechkin off the board again, but lost possession.
Ghost and MDZ had that tough matchup amongst the Flyers defense, and also lost out on possession.
Manning and Gudas were playing together at this time, and they shouldered most of the 5v5 minutes and had the best possession playing against every other Caps line.
The Flyers 4th line on this game was Umberger-Gagner-Laughton. That group had the best possession figures of all Flyers lines, but were -2.
The shots were basically even, and Neuvirth took the win over Holtby.
Nicklas Backstrom again got killed on faceoffs, winning only 30% (7/16).
Next: Game 3 - January 27
Ovechkin Gets on the Board in Caps Win
Only a week and a half after their last meeting, the Philadelphia Flyers and Caps met again in DC. The Flyers scored first for the third straight game in this matchup, and it was only the outstanding play of Braden Holtby that kept it at a single goal. The Caps pushed back hard in the second, again scoring 2 goals in quick succession.
The Flyers got a goal back and tied the game early in the third, but immediately swooned when playing with the lead in the 3rd period. The Caps went back ahead 3-2, and that’s where it would finish.
In hindsight:
The Flyers were still without Sean Couturier, and the Flyers split duties against Oshie-Backstrom-Ovechkin across their top 2 lines. Neither Flyers line did great in possession against them, and Ovechkin scored a goal.
Ghost and MDZ handled the duties of playing against the Caps top line, and came out pretty well.
Scott Laughton played with Michael Raffl and Matt Read, and the line had a very good game.
The Flyers least effective pair on defense this game was Radko Gudas and Evgeni Medvedev.
Next: Game 4 - March 30
Flyers Win Tight Game in Shootout
The Philadelphia Flyers and Caps played their 4th and final game this season only 2 weeks ago. This was a tight, physical game, and it very much felt like a playoff game. For the first time in this season matchup, the Flyers did not jump in front with an early goal. It wasn’t until the 3rd period when a goal was scored, with Ovechkin scoring on the power play. The Flyers answered back with their own power play goal, before winning a shootout.
In hindsight:
Claude Giroux was playing with Simmonds and Schenn, but another poor game. He did particularly poorly in possession against Backstrom.
With Sean Couturier back in the lineup after missing the previous 2 meetings, he went against Ovechkin and won the possession battle. Ovechkin scored, but it was on the power play.
Nick Cousins played with Matt Read and Sam Gagner and dominated the Caps 4th line.
Oshie-Chimera-Beagle was the Caps most effective line with ~81% possession.
Backstrom got torn up in the faceoff circle for the 3rd time in 4 games against the Flyers.
Mar 30, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (19) checks Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (28) during the third period at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers defeated the Capitals, 2-1 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
Patterns and Takeaways from the Four Matchups
Team Wide Patterns
In the 4 games played, 3 games were very close and 2 were very physical. Both of the Flyers wins came in extra time.
The Flyers scored first and early in 3 of the games. Unfortunately they were not very effective when playing with the lead in some games, and twice conceded quick back-to-back goals in the second period of games.
Flyers Players
Sean Couturier missed 2 of the 4 games, but played well when in the lineup. His Corsi percentage was 65% overall (33-18), and 63% against Ovechkin (26-15).
Claude Giroux’s production looks okay with 4 points in 4 games, but he struggled in possession at 42%, and was -1. He was even worse against Backstrom (his most common matchup), at 38%.
Scott Laughton played pretty good games against the Caps, although he did not appear in the 4th meeting. He may be a good option if the Flyers need to make a lineup change in the series.
Caps Players
While Ovechkin was only at 37% (15-26) Corsi against Couturier, he was 57% (42-32) against all other Flyers.
Even though Backstrom can hardly win a faceoff against the Flyers (32% in 74 faceoffs), he thrived with a 61% Corsi and 2 goals.
TJ Oshie (57% Corsi, 2 points) and Burakovsky (61% Corsi, 3 points) were also very successful.
Holtby was a big factor in at least 2 of the games. He was a difference maker in one of the Caps wins, and looked very sharp in the last meeting (until the shootout anyway).
