Flyers Get Back To Winning Ways, Top Capitals 3-2
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Jakub Voracek and Wayne Simmonds scored in the shootout, Steve Mason made 36 saves and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Washington Capitals 3-2 on Wednesday night.
Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux scored in regulation for Philadelphia, which snapped a two-game skid that followed a 10-game winning streak.
Andre Burakovsky and Lars Eller scored in regulation for Washington.
T.J. Oshie converted in the shootout for the Capitals, but Voracek, Philadelphia's third shooter, beat Braden Holtby to tie it at 1. The tiebreaker went to sudden death when Nicklas Backstrom misfired on Washington's third attempt.
Simmonds put the Flyers ahead by beating Holtby with a forehand shot, and Mason stopped Justin Williams to end it.
The Flyers improved to 4-3 in shootouts while Washington dropped to 1-3.
The game was the first meeting between the Metropolitan Division rivals since the top-seeded Capitals eliminated the eighth-seeded Flyers in the first round of a contentious playoff series last season.
It also was the first of eight games in their next 15 for the Flyers against division opponents. The Metro features five of the league's top 10 teams, with Pittsburgh (47 points), the New York Rangers (47) and Columbus (46) just ahead of the Flyers (44) and Capitals (42).
Giroux tied it at 2 with 20.7 seconds left in the second period. The puck landed right on the Flyers captain's stick after a turnover, and Giroux whizzed a wrist shot past Holtby's glove for his 10th goal of the season.
Eller scored on a rebound midway through the second period to give Washington a 2-1 lead. Burakovsky started the play with a shot on goal, John Carlson backhanded a follow shot and Eller finished the rebound.
The Flyers had tied the game about 5 1/2 minutes earlier on Raffl's seventh of the season. Radko Gudas' shot from the point went wide, and Raffl pounced on the hard carom. His wraparound attempt went off Holtby's stick and just over the goal line, and the goal was awarded after an officials' review.
Burakovsky returned after sitting the last three games as a healthy scratch and scored his first goal in more than two months to put the Capitals up 1-0 with 1:36 left in the first period. After the Flyers turned the puck over in their own zone, Dmitry Orlov found a wide-open Burakovsky in the slot. Burakovsky fired past Mason's blocker for his third tally of the season and first since scoring two goals on Oct. 13 versus Pittsburgh.
Mason and Holtby each made 36 saves in regulation.
NOTES: Vice President Joe Biden attended the game. ... Giroux has 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in his last 14 games. ... The teams next meet on Jan. 15 in Washington. They'll return to Philadelphia on Feb. 22 before finishing the season series March 4 in Washington. ... Flyers rookie Travis Konecny has gone 20 straight games without a goal.
UP NEXT
Capitals: At Tampa Bay on Friday night.
Flyers: At New Jersey Thursday night.
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