Just when it looked like the Capitals had put a stranglehold on the Flyers, Philadelphia loosened the grip.
The Flyers would score two unanswered goals after Washington went up 3-0 early and the Caps lead 3-2 after 40 minutes.
Dennis Wideman scored his 10th goal of the season at 1:22 after yet another puck somehow found a hole through Sergei Bobrovsky. Nicklas Backstrom found Wideman at the right point. Wideman would then fire a slap shot that may have been deflected on the way to the net and it squeezed through Bobrovsky's right arm to give Washington a 3-0 lead. It was Wideman's league-leading ninth power play goal from a defenseman, but it was only the Caps' 41st power play goal of the season after they had 79 last year. Bobrovsky would then be pulled in favor of Brian Boucher.
The Flyers would respond at 8:05 when Kris Versteeg looked for Andreas Nodl in front, but it would bank off of Wideman's skate instead and past Michal Neuvirth. With 34 seconds left in the period, Claude Giroux would cut the lead to 3-2 from a one-timer off of a slap pass from Nodl. The fake shot fooled Neuvirth, who went down to stop it before Nodl made the pass. Neuvirth was powerless to stop Giroux's shot and literally froze in the crease as Giroux's 24th goal of the season crossed the goal line.
The Flyers once again outshot the Caps 10-7 in the second period and have a 20-14 advantage for the game.