Philly wins in wild home opener, 6-5
PHILADELPHIA – If every game is like this, the race for the NHL Eastern Conference title is going to be a wild, combustible ride.
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The Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers combined for a head-spinning seven goals in the second period alone during a contest neither team seemed intent on winning.
In the end, Philadelphia’s Scott Hartnell scored a power-play goal with 4 minutes, 15 second left in regulation to tie the game at 5. The Flyers then won it in overtime, 6-5, on a rebound goal by forward Danny Briere at 3 minutes, 52 seconds.
It was a fitting end to a crazy game at Wachovia Center that featured five ties and six lead changes. Washington had scored twice in the third period to take a 5-4 lead with time winding down. Briere – a longtime Caps’ nemesis – celebrated his 32nd birthday with that dramatic goal.
But penalties cost Washington, which took six in the second period alone. Hartnell’s goal was set up by a Boyd Gordon penalty for holding at 14:06. On the late game-tying play, Hartnell shot the puck from a few feet in front of Caps goalie Jose Theodore. But defenseman Tom Poti put his stick on it in a desperate attempt to clear. Instead, it bounced off Theodore’s pads and slid behind him for the goal.
“I think you take [nine] minor [penalties] in a game and you’re not going to win a game,” said Caps coach Bruce Boudreau. “Six in one period? That’s how you get four goals scored against you.”
Philadelphia captain Mike Richards recorded a hat trick in that up-and-down second period, besting Alex Ovechkin’s two goals during that 20-minute stretch. Forward Alex Semin also scored twice for the Caps – one a gorgeous highlight-reel goal in the second period where he undressed two Flyers defenders – and center Nicklas Backstrom recorded three assists.
At 8:18 of the third period, Semin tied the score yet again – at 4 this time – when Backstrom tipped a loose puck towards him on the power play and he spun and whipped a shot through goalie Ray Emery’s legs. Center Brendan Morrison then added the go-ahead tally at 9:32, deflecting the puck past Emery with his skate blade. The play went to video review. But it was clear Morrison was stopping as the puck hit his skate and he did not kick it into the net.
“I thought we were going to get it [after Morrison’s goal],” Boudreau said. “We were pretty determined to defend the lead.”
It was the first loss of the season for Washington, which has still scored an NHL-best 15 goals in three games and has five standings points overall. Emery finished with 31 saves on 36 shots for the Flyers. Caps rookie goalie Semyon Varlamov was not so lucky. He gave up four second-period goals on 15 shots – the last straw a botched attempt to glove a point shot that led directly to Richard’s third goal as Philadelphia took a 4-3 lead. Jose Theodore took over in net for Washington. He finished with 14 saves on 16 shots.
