Just about everything was even between the Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals on Wednesday. It makes sense that the Flyers won by such a narrow margin (3-2, via a shootout).
In both regulation and that shootout, the Flyers were forced to fight back from deficits. They did in both cases, fattening a one-point edge to a two-point margin over the Capitals for fourth place in the extremely competitive Metro Division.
As you can see from the way the standings and games played shake out, the Flyers needed this a bit more than the Capitals:
Metro Standings
1. Penguins - 47 points in 33 games played
2. Rangers - 47 points in 35 GP
3. Blue Jackets - 46 points in 30 GP
4. Flyers - 44 points in 35 GP
5. Capitals - 42 points in 31 GP
Similar trajectories
Again, the parallels between these two teams were only reinforced in this game. Both squads finished with 38 shots on goal, with Braden Holtby and Steve Mason generating some jaw-dropping stops.
The Flyers are now 11-1-1 over their last 13 games while the Capitals are on a similar path, including getting points in all but one of their last six games (6-1-1).
Andre Burakovsky responded to the challenge from the Capitals tonight: show us why we shouldn’t scratch you again. He factored into both Washington goals (one goal, one assist) to help them secure a point. Meanwhile, the Flyers enjoyed strong play from usual suspects like Claude Giroux (tying goal) and Jakub Voracek (an assist on Michael Raffl’s barely-in tally).
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There are certain games where you can just feel that one team has the advantage. In others, it would be pretty difficult to miss which squad has the edge.
This one didn’t really fall into either of those categories. Instead, it was a remarkably even tug-of-war, but to the Flyers’ credit, they’ve shown a remarkable knack for winning that extra battle.