Flyers Edge Caps in Overtime, 2-1

Overtime has treated the Caps and goaltender Braden Holtby fairly well for the most part this season, but the trend seems to have flipped in the other direction since Washington emerged from its bye week on Thursday. Holtby won nine straight overtime or shootout games to start the season, but in the wake of the Philadelphia Flyers' 2-1 overtime triumph over the Caps on Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena, Holtby has now lost each of his last two starts in the first minute of the extra session.

Flyers rookie Travis Konecny connected at the 27-second mark of overtime on Sunday, lifting the Flyers to their seventh win in their last eight games and also lifting them into the final playoff berth in the Eastern Conference. It's the first time Philly has found itself in a postseason standings spot since Nov. 10.

"It's nice to win a game like that early in the overtime," says Flyers' coach Dave Hakstol. "Just a real good effort by all three of them, and a real good individual effort by [Konecny] to fight through that battle on the wall and come up with the puck to start that play."

Konency eluded the check of Caps defenseman John Carlson in neutral ice, gained the Washington line, cut to the slot and fired a shot past Holtby on the stick side as Caps winger T.J. Oshie splayed out in a vain attempt to block the shot.

After stopping each of the first 19 overtime shots he faced this season, Holtby has been beaten on two straight overtime shots in his last two starts.

"We're just finding ways to win hockey games," says Konecny. "They're tough games to win when you're playing against good teams, especially tonight. It's a hard road game coming in here. You know that they've rested [Saturday]. We're just keeping things simple, and we're trusting our abilities."

For Washington, Sunday's setback was its third straight (0-1-2) and its third straight on home ice (0-2-1). The Capitals have won just one of their last five games (1-2-2), but they still hold a five-point lead over second place New Jersey in the Metropolitan Division standings.

Caps coach Barry Trotz noted after the Montreal loss that he'd prefer to see his charges keeping things more on the simple side. While the Caps still have some room for improvement in that regard, they turned in a much better overall performance in Sunday's game.

"I look at that game," begins Trotz, "and I'm disappointed in the final outcome but I'm not disappointed in the game. I thought there was a lot to like in our game."

Both sides got out of bed and arrived on time for the 12:30 start, and both were ready when the bell rang. The first period produced a few chances on each side, but no goals. Both clubs were adroit defensively, getting sticks into passing and shooting lanes and generally preventing prime chances before they were fully formed.

The Capitals have now played three games in less than 72 hours since returning from their bye week, and they've not held a lead on the scoreboard at any point in any of those three games. Perhaps the best chance the Caps had to get on the board first came midway through the initial period of Sunday's game.

Caps captain Alex Ovechkin made a nifty play in the defensive zone, picking the pocket of Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov just as the latter was set to tee up a clapper. After pilfering the puck from Provorov, Ovechkin tore up ice on a two-on-one rush with Evgeny Kuznetsov along for the ride.

Ovechkin fired from the inside of the right circle, and Philly netminder Brian Elliott kicked it aside, putting the rebound right on the blade of Kuznetsov's stick. But with half of a vacant net staring back at him, Kuznetsov's shot was too much "on goalie" and not enough "on goal;" he put it right at Elliott's pad and the veteran froze it for a face-off and a whistle. It was so much "on goalie" that Kuznetsov was officially credited with a missed shot - rather than a shot on goal - on the play.

Washington committed an offensive zone turnover just ahead of the midpoint of the middle period, and the Flyers used it to manufacture the game's first goal. Philly broke out of its own end with numbers and with the Caps' forwards in backchecking pursuit. Flyers defenseman Andrew McDonald squeezed off a backhand shot from the slot, but missed the net.

As Philly center Valtteri Filppula retrieved the puck behind the Caps' cage, he drew the attention of four red-sweatered Capitals as Michael Raffl quietly moved himself into some prime real estate in front. Filppula fed Raffl, who had no one within 10 or so feet of him. Raffl ripped a shot past Holtby on the short side to stake Philadelphia to a 1-0 lead at 6:12 of the middle frame.

The Caps pulled even on a power play late in the period. Washington worked the puck around the perimeter of the Philadelphia zone, Oshie feeding Carlson at center point, and then Carlson putting it on a tee for Ovechkin. From his left dot office, Ovechkin issued a one-time blast that beat Elliott with just 15.8 seconds left in the second.

Elliott had to stop more high-grade scoring chances than did Holtby. The Philly goaltender robbed Nicklas Backstrom twice from the slot, once in the second and once again at the four-minute mark of the third.

Each team had a power play opportunity in the third, but neither was able to nudge ahead with the extra man. Both teams collected a point when the game was still square at 1-1 after 60 minutes, but the Caps never had the puck in overtime. Konecny's goal came on the Flyers' first possession and first shot of overtime, and it came seven seconds earlier than New Jersey's Taylor Hall's overtime game-winner did in the Caps' 4-3 overtime loss to the Devils in New Jersey on Thursday.

Washington played well enough to win Sunday's game; its main failing was its lack of finish. The Caps have not scored a five-on-five goal in more than 120 minutes of play, since Brett Connolly's tally late in the third period of Thursday's game in New Jersey.

The Flyers deserve some credit, too, for keeping the Caps to one goal on Sunday. In addition to Elliott's excellence, Philly defenders had good sticks all night and they were constantly using them to disrupt Washington shot and playmaking attempts.

With the calendar about to flip to February, the Caps can get used to tight-checking games like Sunday's.

"There wasn't a lot of freewheeling out there, especially between the dots," says Caps defenseman Matt Niskanen. "Both teams clogged up the middle pretty well and kept things to the perimeter.

"You get in the second half of the year, you're going to see more and more of those type of games. We'll keep working at it and find a way to generate more offense in those type of games."