PHILADELPHIA – At the end of the story, heart wasn’t nearly enough to propel the Philadelphia Flyers past a superior Washington club.
But it got them closer than pundits had expected.
On Sunday, Nicklas Backstrom was the lone goal scorer in the game as he potted the winner in the second period.
Right Wing Wayne Simmonds
The Flyers offense just could not turn the trick in this series and despite spirited play fell victim in six games.
“The stats show it all, two goals in three games,” Flyers forward Jakub Voracek said. “It’s too bad we couldn’t help him with our goals a little bit. [Mason] got us into the playoffs and [Neuvirth] was great in the playoffs. I think both goalies supported each other pretty well. They are one of the reasons we made it this far.”
Braden Holtby picked up his second shutout of the series in stopping 26 shots in a less than frenzied offensive attack by Philadelphia
“If you ask any goaltender, when you’re staring down the ice the last four periods and you’re not getting any shots, you start watching the game instant of playing the game,” Washington coach Barry Trotz said. “And then they get into your end and you’re out of sync. … To me, this is why Braden has been so good. It’s not only that he makes big saves for us, he makes timely saves. They had a good push there at the end. They had a puck to the side of the net and he got over real quick and made that big timely save in a key moment in the game. When you have a goaltender like that, you’ve got a chance to win every night.”
The Flyers scored just six goals in the series.
“I’m pretty frustrated with myself,” Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. “I’ve got to find a way, doesn’t matter how it is. You’ve got to find a way.”
The Flyers had a 5-on-3 power play for 1:55 in the game and managed just three shots on goal.
Goalie Braden Holtby
“The 5-on-3 today, if we don’t get through that, this building probably explodes,” Trotz said. “We were able to get through that. Once we got through that I felt like we were going to find a way to win the hockey game.”
Michal Neuvirth made 28 saves in the loss.
Washington now moves on to face Pittsburgh who had a much easier time with the New York Rangers who were routed in five games.
You must be logged in to post a comment.