Flyers Beat Caps in OT

Danny Briere buried a nifty shootout goal in the second round and Brian Boucher stopped all three Capitals shootout attempts as the Flyers won 5-4 tonight in Washington.

In a game featuring 16 penalties (many questionable to say the least), the Caps used their powerplays to their advantage to get back into the game, while the Flyers could not convert on theirs to put the game away.

Briere's high sticking while on the powerplay allowed the Caps' Eric Fehr to launch a rocket past Boucher with 39 seconds left. From there it seemed inevitable that the Caps would seize the moment and continue their dominance at home. But Boucher had other ideas and was steady in the shootout turning away consecutive shots to his glove by Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin while getting some help from the iron on Alex Semin's deke.

It was certainly not the Flyers best win, but they will take the two points after a two game skid. They will face the Montreal Canadiens on Monday at the Wells Fargo Center hoping to avenge a shutout loss last Tuesday night up at the Bell Centre.

Flyers Dominate Again, Carter Extended

While the Philadelphia Flyers celebrated a 5-2 beat down of the Florida Panthers tonight, the news of Jeff Carter's contract extension created the most buzz at the Wells Fargo Center tonight.

Carter, 25, was rewarded with an 11-year, $58 million contract extension as confirmed by the team at its 6 p.m. news conference today.

Many people have been critical of Carter both positively and negatively so it will certainly be interesting to see how this move is received amongst the fans and media.

Here's who this contract could effect long term:

-Claude Giroux: Giroux just received a contract extension himself, but nowhere near to Carter's extent. Giroux, who many people see as having more upside, will need to be compensated even more in three year which would lead to more possible cap problems down the road.

-Ville Leino: Leino will be a free agent at the end of this season and he is proving last post season was not a fluke. It may be hard to match an offer on the free market if another team values Leino as highly as they do. The Flyers will look to get a deal done with him now that Giroux and Carter are signed so it does not even get to free agency.

-Sergei Bobrovsky: The young goaltender continues to astound us with his spectacular play. If Bobrovsky proves to be the real deal and with the Flyers' history of trying to find a franchise goaltender, they will want to get a deal done to lock Bobrovsky up for a long time as well.

Leino needs to be the main focus right now, but down the road Giroux and Bobrovsky will present cap problems as well.

Photo courtesy of "In Philly We Trust Blog"

Caps Lose in OT

The Washington Capitals dropped the first end of back-to-back games in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night at HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

Ryan Miller was back in action after a five game absence with a hip injury and he certainly gave the Sabres a spark despite going down 1-0 early.

The Caps were a victim of bad luck on Buffalo's second goal when a shot from the point ricocheted around the crease and was buried into an open net by Thomas Vanek, who had a spectacular night.

Vanek ended the game with a flawless effort dangling his way through the Washington defense and finally beating goalie Braden Holtby with a great deke.

Washington had goals from Karl Alzner and Nicklas Backstrom, but Alex Ovechkin could not find the scoresheet tonight.

The Caps are back in action tomorrow afternoon at the Verizon Center at 5 p.m. against the Atlanta Thrashers.

Photo courtesy of the NHL and "Google Images"

Caps Beat Lightning

The theme of the Washington Capitals' season has been the following: fall behind early, then relentlessly pursue the opponent thereafter.

The Caps beat the struggling and depleted Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at the Verizon Center 6-3. After going down early, the Caps broke the offensive zone in half and abused the half-wall with their cycling, wearing down the Lightning, and freeing up quality shots in the slot.

The Alexs' stole the show with a combined eight points tonight. Alexander Semin had a hat trick and Alexander Ovechkin tallied his ninth goal of the season and added two assists. The Caps remain the best team in the conference leading the Philadelphia Flyers by two points.

The Caps head to Buffalo to take on the Sabres Saturday night, another team devastated currently by injuries. It should be an intriguing tilt, but it's hard to see the Caps losing this one, we'll find out.

Photo courtesy of "Google Images."

Flyers Blowout Hurricanes

On the 25th anniversary of Pelle Lindbergh's death, another young goaltender who resembles many aspects of Lindbergh's style continues to dominate.

Sergei Bobrovsky continues to astonish fans with his enviable speed between the pipes as the Philadelphia Flyers annihilated the Carolina Hurricanes 8-1 tonight in Raleigh, N.C.

The Flyers used a combination of speed and grit to pile on the goals tonight, the first half of their goals coming from creating traffic in front and burying rebounds. The second half came from great skill, passing, and hands to create opportunities for quality shots.

The main aspect on the game though that is going unnoticed is the defensive pairing of Andrej Meszaros and Sean O'Donnell. While this blog was quite critical of O'Donnell in the first few games, he has shown the stability that Flyers' GM Paul Holmgren saw in him playing alongside Drew Doughty with the Los Angeles Kings last year. The pair has allowed the top four to rest more and be fresh every night and that will be key when the playoffs come around to have three reliable defensive pairs.

The Flyers are back in action against the Florida Panthers at the Wells Fargo Center Saturday night. The Panthers are coming off a strong win against the Toronto Maple Leafs, so the Flyers need to come in focused and feast off this soft spot in their schedule.

Photo courtesy "bleacher report."

The Week Ahead

It's great to be back after a few tough weeks for midterms. Now it's time to get back to business.

The Philadelphia Flyers will have a few days off to rest after playing four games in six nights. They return to action on Wednesday night in Carolina to face the Hurricanes and then have a home tilt on Saturday against the Florida Panthers.

The Flyers should come away with no less than 3 points in those two games. They dominated the Hurricanes in their first meeting this season despite giving up a goal in garbage time to win 3-2. The Panthers game has the ominous feeling of a trap game. Florida has some offensive weapons and a solid goaltender in Tomas Vokun. They are low in the standings and the Flyers have to make sure they do not play down to their competition.

Look for Brian Boucher to get a start in one of these two games. While Sergei "Bob" Bobrovsky has been sensational, it would benefit the Flyers to get Boucher a game in this week to keep him sharp and also there is less risk against teams lower in the standings.

Check back for updates during the week.