There was a lot of talk by the Caps coming into last night's game against the Flyers as they looked to change their luck against Philly. While most Caps fans wanted to see a rout after being whipped 7-1 in their last meeting, it took a shootout, and maybe a little divine intervention, for the Caps to gain the two points. Says J.P. at Japers' Rink;
In the good ol' days, this game would have been a hard fought tie. Nowadays, we get to watch the ice resurfacing machines do their laps (twice, in fact) followed by a mini-skills competition. The result last night was a Caps win and two fantastic points (especially given Boston's regulation loss in Minny), but it wasn't, as HeartbreakRidge put it in the Open Thread, "the cathartic ass kicking" we were all hoping for - I guess we'll circle February 24 on our calendars for the next opportunity.
Ed Moran of the Philadelphia Daily News made a note of pointing out how tough it was for the Caps to beat an injury-depleted Flyers team.
A healthy Washington team that started the game with a 17-1-1 record at home couldn't put away a depleted Flyers group, despite an early power-play goal, and the Capitals needed the shootout to grab the extra point, defeating the Flyers, 2-1, in the Verizon Center last night...Given all that background noise, the Caps should have come out and run the dinged-up Flyers out of the rink.
The Peerless points out that while the Flyers played a strong defensive game, the Caps didn't help themselves by pushing for the extra pass or pretty shot, and not giving themselves enough quality scoring chances, despite 77 shot attempts. As always, The Peerless leaves us with some words of wisdom.
In the end, Flyers fans might say,
