Holtby halts 35 shots as Capitals beat Flyers
Tom Wilson, Travis Boyd and Jakub Vrana each scored a goal as the Washington Capitals defeated the visiting Philadelphia Flyers 3-1 in a Sunday matinee.
The victory gave the Capitals, for the moment, a three-point lead over both the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins in the Metropolitan Division. The Islanders played later Sunday and the Penguins return to action Monday.
The Capitals have six games left in the regular season, including a season-ending home date with the Islanders on April 6.
Washington snapped a two-game losing streak and completed a sweep of their four-game season series with the Flyers, whose fading playoff chances took a hit.
Braden Holtby played another strong game for Washington with 35 saves. Alex Ovechkin did not score a goal for the eighth time in his last nine games, but tallied one assist.
Some timely misdirection helped the Capitals score the game's first two goals. Wilson came through early in the first period by redirecting a Nick Jensen shot past goalie Brian Elliott 3:52 into the game.
Boyd stretched the lead to 2-0 when he tipped a shot from Matt Niskanen by Elliott just past the midway point of the second period.
The Flyers cut the lead in half with a late second-period goal from Jakub Voracek with 2:50 left. On the power play, Voracek beat Holtby from a tough angle by the edge of the right circle for the Flyers' first goal and his 20th of the season.
Washington added an insurance goal in the third period. Brett Connolly made a backhand pass from near the boards that sprung Vrana on a breakaway. Vrana then slid a shot past Elliott at 8:07 for a 3-1 lead.
The Capitals had a few chances after the Flyers pulled their goalie in the final two minutes but could not convert.
--Field Level Media
