Washington Capitals Earn Playoff Berth with Shootout Win vs. Philadelphia Flyers

This could almost certainly be the year Caps fans. This could be the year that fate finally drops the Stanley Cup onto the lap of the Washington Capitals.

I say that not just because Washington clinched a playoff berth in beating the Eastern Conference leading Philadelphia Flyers, in Philadelphia. I will also not say the Caps played a great game. They did not.

I say it because if you consider how the Capitals beat the Flyers last evening, then your only conclusion can be fate or divine intervention. I am still looking for proof that God loves hockey with Gary Bettman still the commissioner, but I am beginning to believe a little more after the Matt Cooke suspension.

Finally, it must just be the Caps' year. Without their team captain and leading sorcerer Alex Ovechkin, the Caps still managed to score four goals in regulation while being outshot (33-23), outhit (29-17) and outplayed for the final 38 minutes of regulation.

With 35 points in just 22 games, the loss of Ovie was a big break for the Flyers as he has had his way against them in his career, The Flyers earned one point in the game but should have had two, and they know that as well.

This was a game that even when the Capitals were leading, you still felt like they were losing.

Not to mention Washington was outhit 29-17, lost 56 percent of the faceoffs and seemed to be chasing Philadelphia around the ice all evening long.

The Caps coughed up a three-goal lead on the road and surrendered the go-ahead goal with less than five minutes remaining against a team that had clearly stolen every ounce of momentum in the building after pulling its starting goalie.

Washington still won the game, and let us give credit where credit is due, Caps fans: Washington did not quit without Ovechkin, Mike Green and Jason Arnott in the lineup. While Flyers fans must be wondering what lies ahead if the two teams meet in the playoffs, Caps fans are feeling a little more confident.

The Caps will be making their fourth consecutive postseason appearance under head coach Bruce Boudreau. The Caps also inched closer to their fourth straight Southeast division title with the victory.

The Tampa Bay Lightning once again failed to beat a team headed for the golf course in three weeks, losing to the New York Islanders 5-2 at home. With the Caps winning for the 14th time in their last 17 games, the Bolts now trail by seven points with just eight games remaining.

They won in late March on the road with 38-year-old Mike Knuble as their offensive hero once again. With a goal and two assists, Knuble notched his second consecutive three-point game and his eighth straight 20-goal season.

The boo birds, not the Booosh birds, were out early in the City of Brotherly Love. The Boosh birds would also get their chance as Flyers starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky surrendered three soft goals and was replaced by career backup Brian (Boooosh) Boucher 1:22 into the second period.

Washington took the Flyers' best Rocky-like knockout punch and got right back up. Just as they did against the Devils on Friday, when they scored three goals on 12 shots, Washington capitalized on Bobrovsky's lack of focus and made their limited scoring chances matter.

Nicklas Backstrom started Washington's scoring for the night when Philadelphia got careless with the puck in the neutral zone while trying to make a line change. The Caps' Brooks Laich was the beneficiary of the sloppy neutral zone play and hit Nicklas Backstrom in the neutral zone, springing him into the Flyers' zone.

Backstrom fired a harmless wrist shot between four Flyers defenders, and Bobrovsky simply failed to handle the puck. The puck trickled out from under his left arm and into the net.

Washington's second goal was a reward for the Caps' hard work down low behind the Flyers' net. Marcus Johansson, working a semi-cycle, passed the puck behind the net to Jason Chimera, who softly slid a pass to Mike Knuble in front. Knuble was able to tap a knuckler up high from about three feet away.

Deep in his net and out of position to make the save, Bobrovsky could only watch as the knuckle puck just softly found an opening between his body and the post.

Knuble, who spent four seasons in Philadelphia, now has five goals in his last five games and nine points in his last six contests

Washington led 2-0 after one period and 3-0 very early into the middle frame after Dennis Wideman scored a power play goal on a harmless soft slapper from the point. The goal again leaked through the unsteady Bobrovsky.

Wideman’s PP marker was his 10th of the season but ninth with the extra man. His nine PP tallies are the most by any NHL defenseman.

The Capitals' penalty killers were exceptional again in the victory over the Flyers. They were 0-for-2 but had to kill over three minutes of shorthanded time when Alex Semin took a double minor for high sticking, drawing blood from Kris Versteeg’s chin.

The Caps are now 23-3-4 when scoring a power play goal and 15-0-2 when scoring a PP goal but do not allow one.

Following Wideman’s early third period extra man marker, Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette had seen enough and called on Brian Boucher to replace the Russian netminder. Once Boucher took over in net, the Flyers took over the game.

Philadelphia ripped off four unanswered goals as Kris Versteeg (19), Claude Giroux (24) and Andreas Nodl (11) led the charge to tie the game. With 5:45 remaining, Danny Briere executed a textbook backhand deflection past Caps starter Michael Neuvirth to put the Eastern Conference leaders ahead late.

Caps starter Michael Neuvirth was not as sharp as he was on Friday, but he was good enough and made key saves that Washington needed at crucial times. Unlike Bobrovsky, Neuvirth did not have much of a chance on any of his goals against in the game.

Versteeg's goal deflected in off Dennis Wideman's skate, and Giroux's goal, with just 34 seconds remaining in the middle frame, was served up on a silver platter.  Andreas Nodl fed Giroux with a fabulous fake shot-pass that Neuvirth could do nothing with but watch.

Nodl also scored the next goal after Caps defenseman Jeff Schultz turned the puck over to Claude Giroux deep in Caps territory. Giroux returned the helper to Nodl on a bang-bang play as Nodl camped in front of Neuvirth all by himself and beat him easily to tie the game.

Neuvirth was not sharp in the game and seemed panicked at times trying to find the puck. His teammates owed him one, as Neuvirth has carried the torch and bailed them out on more than a few occasions this season. As Neuvy has not disappointed this season, neither did his teammates.

With only 3:19 left in the game, and the Caps in the Flyers' zone working hard just to keep the puck inside the blue line, Mike Knuble found Marcus Johansson. Open for only a moment, Johansson fired a one-timer. Before Flyers defenders could converge, his one-timer beat Boucher over his blocker and tied the game.

The goal was the 12th of the season for the rookie center, as Washington managed to barely hold on and force overtime. That should not have been a surprise to any hockey fan watching the game tonight.

This was the fourth and final (for now) meeting for the Caps and Flyers this season. All four games went into overtime this season with each team winning once in OT and once in a shootout.

Speaking of the shootout, the Flyers shot first and scored as Ville Leino stuffed the puck under Neuvirth's pad. Looking like Wayne Gretzky in scoring his third shootout goal in five tries this season, Matt Hendricks answered immediately.

Claude Giroux missed as he fell over Neuvirth, but Backstrom stayed on his feet as he placed a beautiful shot between Boucher's pads, giving the Caps a 2-1 edge in the skills contest.

Danny Briere tied the shootout with a backhander past Neuvirth, but Alexander Semin would not be denied. He forced Boucher to commit, as the backup tried to stick check the puck away from the only Alex in the game for Washington. Semin was able to backhand the shot over the stick and Bucher for the 3-2 shootout and 5-4 game victory.

After losing seven straight games that extended beyond regulation at one time this season, the Caps have now won their last five games that extended beyond extra time and are now 11-10 in OT games this season.

They also bumped their shootout record to 4-5 for the season and are now 25-37 since the shootout was instituted into the NHL. Washington improved to 21-12-3 and 13-3-4 against the Atlantic division.

The Capitals were able to keep two undefeated streaks intact last evening, moving to 36-0-3 when scoring three or more goals and 26-0-2 when leading after two periods.

Caps coach Bruce Boudreau summed the win up best following the game, “The important part for us, is that a team came back, scores four goals and takes a lead on us. But we battled back, and obviously, we did great in the shootout but it was important for us to show the where-with-all to come back. When you believe you can win, you can do a lot of things."

Let us hope we are still believing in mid-June.