swflyers28 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Quote PHILADELPHIA -- The Washington Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers play Game 6 of their Eastern Conference First Round series at Wells Fargo Center on Sunday (noon ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports). The Capitals lead the best-of-7 series 3-2, but the Flyers won the past two games. Here are five keys for Game 6: 1. Score first: The team that has scored first has won four of the five games. The exception was the Capitals' 6-1 win in Game 3. The first goal has been particularly important for the Flyers the past two games. In Game 4, Shayne Gostisbehere's power-play goal 5:51 into the first period got the Flyers off to the fast start they desperately needed after being blown out in Game 3. In their 2-0 win in Game 5, Ryan White's goal 7:52 into the second period was all they needed with goaltender Michal Neuvirth negating the Capitals' 44-11 advantage in shots on goal. "We've been chasing the last couple of games because we haven't found the back of the net, so it is tougher," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "It's tougher to chase games. You need two (goals) to win instead of one and if you give up (another) one, then you're chasing even more. So, that's why I say you've got to play the right way. Even if you're pressing to get the game tied up, you've still got to play the right way or all of a sudden you're down by two." 2. Pressure: It's all on the Capitals after the Flyers won the past two games to get halfway to becoming the fifth team in NHL history to come back from 3-0 down in a series to win. How the Capitals handle it could determine their fate. Another Flyers victory Sunday would send the series back to Verizon Center for Game 7 on Wednesday and elevate the talk about the Capitals' history of not being able to finish series. The Capitals have blown a two-game lead (2-0 or 3-1) 10 times in their history but never a 3-0 lead. They are 1-8 in their past nine attempts to close out a series, including 1-6 over the past two seasons. 3. Discipline: The Flyers' fortunes have improved the past two games as they've spent less time killing penalties. After being shorthanded nine times and allowing five power-play goals in Game 3, they were shorthanded five times total over the past two games and didn't allow a power-play goal. An adjustment on their penalty kill to be more aggressive pressuring Nicklas Backstrom along the right half-wall and John Carlson at the point has been effective, but it's mostly been that the Capitals haven't had as many opportunities to work with. Conversely, having to kill off five Flyers power plays in the opening 28 minutes prevented the Capitals from getting into a flow 5-on-5 in the first half of Game 5. 4. Neuvirth: The Flyers have done some things better in the past two games and demonstrated once again that they are a resilient bunch. This series would be over already, however, without Neuvirth's heroics in stopping 75 of the 76 shots he's faced the past two games. Flyers coach Dave Hakstol's decision to switch from Steve Mason to Neuvirth before Game 4 has been a turning point. Neuvirth began his career with the Capitals, so they know him well, but they're still having trouble solving him. "We just have to keep pounding the goalie (with shots) and I think the only thing we need to do different is get more bodies in front of the net," Capitals forward Andre Burakovsky said. 5. Burakovsky-Kuznetsov-Williams: The Capitals' second line of Burakovsky, Evgeny Kuznetsov andJustin Williams has yet to score an even-strength point in the series. Kuznetsov had a power-play goal off a fortunate bounce in Game 3 (his lone goal since March 1), Williams has two power-play assists (both in Game 3) and Burakovsky is seeking his first point of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The line has had some strong shifts with puck possession and sustained pressure in the Flyers' end, but it hasn't led to enough quality scoring chances. "We had some good chances, but we need to go more to the net and maybe score some dirty goals," Kuznetsov said. "It's tough to play hockey when you didn't score the goals you want."[/quote] https://www.nhl.com/news/flyers-face-capitals-in-game-6/c-280449906?tid=280160810 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intheslot Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Just Win It ... G comes up big for a short guy Fly Guys Win this one 3 to 2 . G with the winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ8812 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 win or lose this series, we have already ****ed the Caps over. Their confidence is shot. I'm proud of what this team has been able to do this year Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraycraven Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 1 hour ago, RJ8812 said: win or lose this series, we have already ****ed the Caps over. Their confidence is shot. I'm proud of what this team has been able to do this year Agree... Win or lose they have fought like hell... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ8812 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 team looks tired. they cant even get to Holtby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poulin20 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 That 5 on 3 failure was brutal and may have been the last straw. No excuse not to score on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ8812 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 1 minute ago, Poulin20 said: That 5 on 3 failure was brutal and may have been the last straw. No excuse not to score on that. The Caps simply are a much better team than us in every aspect. The fact that we took them to a 6th game is an embarrassment. I fully expect the Pens to beat them in the next round. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howie58 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 We may be looking back at this series as confirmation of our inept offense. There is real spirit and competitiveness. But the offense is p poor. Jake's freeze makes things even worse. The upside: A few additions and we should make noise....assuming our scouts know their stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJgoal Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 11 minutes ago, RJ8812 said: The Caps simply are a much better team than us in every aspect. The fact that we took them to a 6th game is an embarrassment. I fully expect the Pens to beat them in the next round. I hope not. #### the Pens. Caps can lose in the ECF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ8812 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 6 minutes ago, AJgoal said: I hope not. #### the Pens. Caps can lose in the ECF. I can't see it happening. Pens will see what we did to shut their PP out (well, after the 3rd game), and then add in the fact that they can score goals and Ovechkin is the leading choke artist on that team.... Pens in 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimKerrFan12 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Too bad we only started playing offense with 10 minutes left in the series. Ridiculous non calls on knee on knee on Gostibehere and Simmonds being held. Lets hope the Flyers can sign some offensive players in the off season. Trade Mason keep Neuvirth IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilldoc Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Disappointed...but I see hope. Look ..realistically this team had no business to take the Caps to 6 games. There are simply too many holes that need to be filled. I am, however, very proud that they battle back from a 3-0 hole to win at least 2 games and scare the living bejeezus out of the their fans. With that being said, how the hell can you not score on a 2 minute 5 on 3. They scored a paltry 6 goals the entire series while being shut-out twice. The stats speak for themselves and are ugly. Schenn / Jake / Simmer / Giroux had exactly 1 goal between them. 1 freaking goal!!! This series was not lost by goaltending. Neuvy played his ass off in games 5 and 6. The future is bright for this team. No one expect this club to make the playoffs this year. Lose some dead weight and hopefully Provorov and Konecny will make the team and instill some more talented youth to this team. And next year Jake better play up to that contract...enough said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ8812 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 2 minutes ago, TimKerrFan12 said: Too bad we only started playing offense with 10 minutes left in the series. Ridiculous non calls on knee on knee on Gostibehere and Simmonds being held. Lets hope the Flyers can sign some offensive players in the off season. Trade Mason keep Neuvirth IMO. No. Both are signed to reasonable contracts for next season, so you dont trade either goalie until next year's deadline. While Mason may have struggled in games 2 & 3, he is the reason why we made it into the playoffs in the first place. Why people forget that so easily is just silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 The fact is, if not for Neuvirth and Mason, this isn't a playoff team. They are a one-line team that is relatively thin on the blueline. With Jake and G only getting 2 points between them, (and doing absolutely nothing on the power play) it's a miracle they weren't swept by a team that a team that was 24 points better than they were. Gostisbehere got a ton of experience in the regular season and playoffs, and improved quite a bit from his first game of this season. This is a one-line team with an average defense. The young guys like Gudas, Manning and Ghost played very well. The additions of Provorov, Sanheim, Konecny and oh yeah, the return of Couturier will make this team much better. The future of this team is very bright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 24 minutes ago, TimKerrFan12 said: Too bad we only started playing offense with 10 minutes left in the series. Ridiculous non calls on knee on knee on Gostibehere and Simmonds being held. Lets hope the Flyers can sign some offensive players in the off season. Trade Mason keep Neuvirth IMO. I wouldn't mind trading Mason, if we can get someone with decent scoring punch in return. The team desperately needs scoring depth, and this series exposed it, and the fact that our scoring "stars" (G and Jake) maybe aren't as good as we previously thought. Maybe Stolarz and Neuvirth can platoon next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poulin20 Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 3 hours ago, RJ8812 said: The Caps simply are a much better team than us in every aspect. The fact that we took them to a 6th game is an embarrassment. I fully expect the Pens to beat them in the next round. Sure they are better team but 5 on 3 I don't care who they are there are only 3 of them to our 5 for a full 2 minutes you have to at least have some good chances and should have been able to pot 1. That 5 on 3 failure I attribute more the Flyers ineptitude than Caps being better. I get what you are saying though as the Caps being exposed a bit as chokers and mental midgets they looked the part once again and if we had a more than 1/2 a functional team we may have been able to beat them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 5 hours ago, Poulin20 said: That 5 on 3 failure was brutal and may have been the last straw. No excuse not to score on that. Yeah hard to win a series going 1 for 24 on the PP. And your top line combines for a whopping 4 points. Caps are just a better team. Live and learn. Flyers will be back. No way i bring Gagner back. Save that space for someone like Taylor Leier next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted April 24, 2016 Share Posted April 24, 2016 Farwell Streit, Schultz and Gagner and hopefully RJ. Thanks but no thanks!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 6 hours ago, TimKerrFan12 said: Too bad we only started playing offense with 10 minutes left in the series. Ridiculous non calls on knee on knee on Gostibehere and Simmonds being held. Lets hope the Flyers can sign some offensive players in the off season. Trade Mason keep Neuvirth IMO. agree. curious to see who gets the calls against the Penguins. Lucky for Ghost here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 59 minutes ago, hf101 said: agree. curious to see who gets the calls against the Penguins. Lucky for Ghost here. Wow that was pretty dirty. It will be interesting to see who will get the calls versus them...and when they chose to "just let em play".... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brelic Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 14 hours ago, Poulin20 said: Sure they are better team but 5 on 3 I don't care who they are there are only 3 of them to our 5 for a full 2 minutes you have to at least have some good chances and should have been able to pot 1. That 5 on 3 failure I attribute more the Flyers ineptitude than Caps being better. I get what you are saying though as the Caps being exposed a bit as chokers and mental midgets they looked the part once again and if we had a more than 1/2 a functional team we may have been able to beat them. That's true but the Caps also had a long 5 on 3 and didn't score. The bigger killer was 1 for 24 on the PP and something like a 60% PK for the series. You're not going to win playoff hockey with those kinds of special teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murraycraven Posted April 25, 2016 Share Posted April 25, 2016 14 hours ago, OccamsRazor said: Yeah hard to win a series going 1 for 24 on the PP. And your top line combines for a whopping 4 points. Caps are just a better team. Live and learn. Flyers will be back. No way i bring Gagner back. Save that space for someone like Taylor Leier next year. this is a perfect summation as to why we lost... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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