Flyers Stay Alive With a 2-1 Win Over Caps

PHILADELPHIA — Finally, the Flyers are starting to see them crack.

The Washington Capitals had every reason to want to make quick work of the Flyers and sweep a team for the first time in franchise history in a seven-game series.

Instead ex-Capital Michal Neuvirth helped the Flyers to a 2-1 win in Game 4 and all of a sudden the Capitals are getting frustrated.

From goalie Braden Holtby holding onto Wayne Simmonds’ stick and getting dragged from his crease to the faceoff circle to Alex Ovechkin taking exception to getting hit, the Flyers may finally have gotten to the Caps.

“I don’t know if we did or not, but obviously that’s the game plan,” Brayden Schenn said. “You gotta go after their top guys and try and frustrate them. Holtby’s pretty calm back there. You don’t see him get rattled too often, but it’s no secret that you’ve got to play Ovechkin hard. You’ve got to play (Nicklas) Backstrom hard and their top guys and try to frustrate them in a seven-game series.”

That’s the next objective for the Flyers: make the series go seven games. The team finally has a pulse after three straight losses, all of which just about the same way.

All series it’s been the Capitals scoring power play goals — they were 5-for-9 in Game 3 alone — but the Flyers did well to stay out of the penalty box in Game 4 and finally score on a power play of their own in their first series win.