*Photo from Daily Faceoff*
The playoff field is set in stone. TJ Oshie had a goal and an assist, Charlie Lindgren shined in net, and the Washington Capitals defeated the Philadelphia Flyers with a 2-1 victory Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
Needing a win to clinch a playoff spot, the Capitals did just that. After their 8 year playoff streak was snapped last season, the Capitals got back in and have made the playoffs 9 out of the last 10 years. The Capitals finished tied with the Detroit Red Wings for points but hold the regulation wins tiebreaker.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said of clinching a playoff spot that "We fight through lots of stuff that happen at deadline, injuries, but I think the belief inside the locker room was tremendous. We enjoyed that process. It's special. That's why we play hockey. You want to be in that type of atmosphere, you want to be in, and we beat pretty good teams to be able to make it."
It was Ovechkin who started the scoring in this one. He gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead with 1:52 left in the period, scoring his 31st goal of the season with Oshie and Dylan McIlrath. The only goal of the second period came from Erik Johnson, who got the Flyers on the board and tie the game 1-1 on his 5th goal of the season.
The game remained tied late in regulation. In the final few minutes, the Flyers pulled their goalie as the needed a regulation win to stay in the playoff race. Oshie had the chance at an empty net goal and took advantage, putting the Capitals in front for good on his 12th goal of the season.
Washington forward Dylan Strome said of the win that "It feels really good, honestly. Obviously to do it on a back to back, tough building, tough team to play against. They're fast. They controlled play for a decent amount of the game, decent parts of the game, but I thought we hung in there. But I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel really good."
Drawing the start in net for the Capitals was Lindgren, who started both ends of the Capitals back to back. Lindgren stopped all but one of the 28 shots the Flyers sent at him, good for a .964 save percentage as his record improved to 25-16-7.
Getting the start on the other end of the ice for the Flyers was Samuel Ersson, who picked up the loss to drop to 23-19-7 in 49 starts. Ersson turned aside 16 out of the 17 shots on goal that the Capitals had, giving him a .941 save percentage.
Flyers head coach John Tortorella said of the season ending loss that "This was a high stakes game. Started off very tentative, but then I felt we got on the attack. Give them credit. They defended well. They defended a lot. And we just couldn't find our way."
The Flyers head into the offseason with their season over and playoff chances gone. The Capitals tangle with the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.
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