Through two periods Friday, the Washington Capitals held a bit of an advantage in the shots-on-goal department. And by “a bit of an advantage,” we mean they were outshooting the Philadelphia Flyers 30-8.
And yet the score remained 1-0 for Philadelphia heading into the third period of Game 5 -- a game the Flyers need to win to extend the series.
Ryan White scored the goal on one of only two Flyers shots in the second period.
But it’s been the play of Flyers’ goalie Michal Neuvirth that’s been the big story. He’s been busy, to say the least. And through 40 minutes, he was up to every challenge.
Arguably his best save of the game was on Marcus Johansson with 2:10 remaining in the second period. Neuvirth, who replaced Steve Mason with the start in Game 4 and stopped 31 of 32 shots to help Philadelphia avoid the sweep, stopped an Alex Ovechkin shot in the slot and moved quickly to his right to absolutely rob Johansson on the rebound in close, as the Capitals searched for the tying goal.
If you combine Alzner (5) and Carlson (4) shots, they have more SOG than the entire Flyer team (8).
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) April 23, 2016