Philadelphia Flyers: Scott Laughton’s big night powers team

With a chance to secure a top two seed in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers powered past the Capitals.

The Flyers took to the ice with a surprise player out of their lineup. Connor Bunnaman made his NHL playoff debut as James van Riemsdyk was a healthy scratch in this one.

It was a feeling out process when the game began. The Flyers were the sloppier team as they had more than a few icings to start the game. The Capitals were strong at keeping them out of the offensive zone.

However, Washington found it hard to fire a shot in on Brian Elliott. Their first shot didn’t end up coming until about 10 minutes into the game.

Philadelphia did get the first power play chance, but it was more of the same. While they fired a few shots towards the net, the Capitals were easily able to handle it. The same went for the Flyers second power play chance just moments later. They found it hard to get in the zone, let alone set up a scoring chance when they did make it in.

Neither team played a particularly strong offensive game early on. There weren’t many quality chances for either side. The Flyers finally made the Capitals pay to get on the board.

Radko Gudas had the turnover against the wall as Kevin Hayes fired a backhand across the ice to Travis Konecny. He then spun around and found Scott Laughton for the easy open-net goal. Braden Holtby bit hard to try and stop Konecny.

The Flyers looked a bit stronger as the period went on. The penalty kill continued its strong play as well, not allowing anything on two separate Capitals power plays.

Evgeny Kuznetsov would end up limping off and heading to the locker room after getting tied up on the boards with Bunnaman late in the first. That would be a big loss if he had to miss some time. He did come back for the second period, though, so a big sign of relief for the Capitals.

There was some penalty trouble for both teams during the second, but neither team were able to capitalize. The Flyers did increase their lead during the 4-on-4. Kevin Hayes showed off his incredible puck handling skills.

He held off multiple Capitals before finding Travis Sanheim in front. Sanheim drew Holtby out of position as he decked around him for the goal.

The Capitals continued to play on their heels as they took penalty after penalty. However, the Flyers didn’t capitalize on any of them. A few of them were brief, though. They did have the 2-0 lead, however.

The play began to open up late in the second.  Jakub Vrana had the breakaway chance on Elliott, but he got the shoulder on the shot. He hadn’t been tested much before that. Holtby answered with his own big save as he stopped Laughton on a 2-on-1 opportunity.

The teams continued exchanging chances in the third as the Capitals began to get desperate to get on the board. But the Flyers continued to do a solid job or getting the puck out of the zone. Alex Ovechkin did steal the puck in the offensive zone for a dangerous chance, but nothing came of it.

Joel Farabee and Nicolas Aube-Kubel continued their strong play as they found themselves on a 2-on-1 chance. But with both on their off hands, they weren’t able to to capitalize. The two seemed to be developing quick chemistry together, though.

Laughton increased the lead with his second goal of the game, third of the round robin. Philippe Myers has a strong keep-in at the blue line. After Travis Konecny found him, Hayes fired it across the ice from the boards to Laughton as he directed it in.

The trio combined for eight points as they played a part in all three goals.

The Capitals answered back for the first time in this game. Travis Boyd was in front of the net as it bounced off of him and through the five-hole of Elliott. It was the only blemish from an otherwise strong game by the Flyers netminder.

He kept that play up as the Capitals power play looked dangerous with about seven minutes remaining in the period. It was clear that the Flyers were trying to wear the Capitals out as the rest of the period went on. They were relentless on the puck and seemed to be everyone that Washington was trying to go.

The Capitals went to the empty net with 2:13 reminding in the third. They could hardly get anything going as the Flyers shut them down yet again.

That sets them up for a matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. That game will be for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The loser of that game will be the second seed.

That means the Flyers can only finish as low as the second seed. They’ve looked strong in round robin play.