Caps Blow Out Flyers

Preseason
Capitals 6, Flyers 1

In a game that had just about everything, the Capitals finally pull together a blow out win where it was special teams that pulled through for them. The Caps were 3 of 10 in the power play column as well as being able to kill off a triple minor (that is right a triple minor given to Brian Sutherby, double minor for roughing and a minor for slashing).

Although Alex Ovechkin didn’t score, he did make his presence known. Ovechkin stood up for Jakub Klepis after he was boarded. It didn’t take Mike Richards long to pull Ovie aside and the two got into it. It was two second year players standing up for teammates by dropping the gloves.

This game featured a slew of fights (Ovie and Richardson, Matt Bradley and Derian Hatcher, Sutherby and Richardson) and even some big open ice clean hits. And the Caps proved that being aggressive can pay off. The Penalty kill was in the Flyers faces all night, not allowing much time for set-up. It was a change that was like night and day from the previous game for the Caps special teams.

Scoring goals for the Capitals were Jamie Heward (who returned to the ice after an off season surgery), Richard Zednik, Mike Green, Sutherby, Kris Beech and Bradley. Last year I talked about getting more goal support for Ovie. Tonight they got it, and in bulk.

Caps return to Ashburn Ice Center to finish out the rest of camp. The Caps will play the Flyers again at the Verizon Center on Friday. It should be interesting game if Donald Brashear is put back in the line up. Although retribution for a preseason game is rare, it’s not totally unheard of.

The Caps looked like a hockey team in this game, something that they really haven’t pulled together last year. But we have to see if the Capitals can learn the definition of consistency. If the Caps put this kind of effort in every game, I would be happy with whatever the result is.