It took 14 tries, but the Philadelphia Flyers have joined the rest of the playoff teams.
Shayne Gostisbehere, who is celebrating his 23rd birthday today, found the back of the net with the man advantage at 5:51 of the first period to give the Flyers their first power-play goal of the series. Washington had been the only team that had successfully killed off all of their first round penalties.
To make matters worse, Capitals coach Barry Trotz challenged the goal on the grounds of goalie interference. The ruling stood though and Washington consequently lost their timeout. You can see the full sequence below:
Defenseman Andrew MacDonald added to the Flyers lead 3:51 minutes into the second frame when he launched a shot past Washington goalie Braden Holtby:
MacDonald had 20 goals in 400 regular season contests and a single marker in 14 career playoff games going into tonight’s contest.
Those goals have been a step in the right direction for Philadelphia, but the Flyers have a long journey after of them after falling behind 3-0 in the first round series.