Thursday's game between the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia was heavily promoted as a match-up between two of the Eastern Conference and NHL's best teams through the first two weeks of the season. For 40 minutes, it looked that way. The last 20 minutes, however, looked anything but.
The Caps opened up the floodgates with three goals within 2:25 early in the third period en route to a 5-2 rout of the Flyers.
The Flyers actually had a 1-0 lead late in the first period on Claude Giroux's breakaway goal, but the Caps scored five unanswered goals in two quick spurts. Mathieu Perreault and Alex Ovechkin scored 1:08 apart at the end of the first period to give the Caps the lead for good at 2-1. After no scoring in the second period, Roman Hamrlik, Ovechkin and Joel Ward scored 2:25 apart to blow the Flyers out. Hamrlik and Ward scored their first goals of the season and as members of the Caps, while Ovechkin scored his second of the night and third of the season.
Tomas Vokoun had yet another stellar performance, making 40 saves for his fifth straight win. After giving up five goals in his debut last Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Vokoun has allowed five goals in his last four starts.
With Washington's win and the Boston Bruins' win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Caps are the only team in the East unbeaten in regulation. The 6-0-0 Caps return home Saturday to play the Detroit Red Wings in yet another marquee match-up at Verizon Center.