Dec 21 2008
Flyers crush Capitals behind Hartnell’s hat trick
Statistically speaking, the Flyers should not have beaten the Washington Capitals 7-1. They were badly outshot; they couldn’t get the puck out of their own zone for much of the game; and they were just sloppy overall. Yet somehow, Philly made the most of their opportunities and flat out dominated the Caps on the score sheet.
The first period was the Antero Niittymaki show. The Finnish net minder stood on his head during the first twenty minutes; facing 25 shots and turning each one away. It is pretty unbelievable that the Capitals could have that many shots in the first period and not put one in the net. Meanwhile, the Flyers took advantage of Washington’s misfortune and Joffrey Lupul scored the lone goal of the period to put Philly up 1-0. It was one of only six shots in the opening frame for the Fly Guys.
The second period was more of the same: brutal hitting, lots of shots by the Caps, lots of saves by Niittymaki, and more goals for the Flyers. Once again, Washington outshot Philadelphia; this time by a margin of 14-7. However, just like the first period, the Capitals had nothing to show for it, while the Flyers continued to light the lamp. With under five minutes remaining in the second period, Jeff Carter lit the lamp with a nice wrist shot to put Philly up 2-0. Less than a minute later, Braydon Coburn sprung Carter loose with a pass on the penalty kill that led to a league-leading 13th shorthanded goal for the Flyers. It was Carter’s fourth shorthander this year.
In the third, the Flyers blew the doors off of the Caps. Scott Hartnell scored early in the period, but Brooks Laich countered for Washington 24 seconds later to make it 4-1 Flyers. A couple of minutes later, Hartnell scored his second goal of the game, this time on the power play, which prompted fans to litter the ice with hats after thinking that Carter completed the hat trick. Shortly after Hartnell found the net, Simon Gagne scored a power play goal of his own to push Philly’s lead to 6-1. Then, later in the period, Hartnell finally gave the fans their hat trick and sealed the Flyers’ 7-1 win.
Niittymaki was stellar in net, making a season-high 47 saves. On the other hand, Washington starter Brent Johnson made 10 saves on 13 shots, while Jose Theodore stopped 11 of the 15 shots he faced. Not a good afternoon for the Washington goaltenders.
With the win, Philadelphia is unbeaten in their last 11 games at the Wachovia Center. The Flyers don’t get any time to celebrate their win as they return to the ice tonight when they pay a visit to the overachieving New Jersey Devils. It should be another tough game for the Fly Guys, especially since the Devils were off on Saturday. Let’s see what they can do.
Let’s Go Flyers!
