Washington can't capitalize despite Huet's best effort

Despite the finest efforts of Cristobal Huet and the roster juggling of coach Bruce Boudreau, the Capitals once again couldn't figure out a way to beat the Flyers.

Mike Knuble scored 6 minutes, 40 seconds into the second overtime as the Flyers beat the Capitals, 4-3, to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. The Capitals' season, which started so dismally and closed so wonderfully, could end tomorrow in D.C.

The Capitals must go home wondering what they have to do to beat the Flyers, who didn't commit a penalty after the second period and were given life midway through the third when Danny Briere scored on the power play. The Capitals were whistled for too many men on the ice for the second time.

Boudreau, who took over when the Caps were dead in the water and turned them into Southeast Division champions, wanted his team to play smarter. For the most part, they did. But still came up short.

"I think we played pretty well overall," said veteran center Sergei Fedorov. "Obviously we have to stay out of the box . . . we should have a complete 60-minute [game] without any trouble. Unfortunately, it didn't happen tonight."

Huet lost his third consecutive decision, the first time he's done that since the Caps acquired the goalie from Montreal for a second-round pick at the trade deadline.

Huet, though, had his best game of the series.

He made 42 saves - including 14 after regulation - and became the hard-luck loser when Knuble slapped in a rebound goal off a flurry in front of his net. He initially stoned Knuble, but the Flyers forward rammed the puck home for the winner.

"It is by far my biggest [goal]," said Knuble, who was a rookie reserve for Detroit when they won the Stanley Cup in 1998. "To score in a big hockey town like Philadelphia and at this point in the season, to put our team up 3-1, is a huge thrill."

Huet's glove-hand stop on Scottie Upshall in the third period was his best save. It was one of those jobs where he sprawled from one post to the other, laid out and stopped the puck with his glove. It was the best dive the Wachovia Center crowd had seen since Alex Ovechkin flopped in Game 3.

Ovechkin was better than he had been in Games 2 and 3, but he wasn't a difference-maker. He threw his body around with a game-high 10 hits, but managed just one shot on goal. He missed the net with six other attempts and had three blocked.

The Russian Bear had a new centerman as Boudreau put Sergei Fedorov in the middle of him and Viktor Kozlov.

There might have been no better player in the league this year than Ovechkin, who did manage to register a pair of power-play assists last night. But after those two first-period helpers, the Flyers did a commendable job of bottling him up. After averaging well above a minute per shift in the last two games, Ovechkin's 31 shifts went for about 54 seconds apiece.

He got behind the defense twice in overtime, but failed to get the puck behind Martin Biron. In fact, as Knuble was hacking away at the eventual game-winner, guess who had the best look at the play? Ovechkin.

"The puck was behind the net and I just tried to go down, but it was delayed," Ovechkin said. "It was my mistake."

Wednesday was the 20th anniversary of the Dale Hunter goal; the one in Game 7 of the 1988 first round against Washington that sent the Flyers packing. Last night, the Flyers exacted just a little bit of revenge and put the Capitals in a big, big hole.

"We needed that game," Huet said. "But I think we played our first playoff-hockey-type style game. I think it's urgent that we are going to have win the next game and that's all we can think about now." *