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It was more than Neuvirth to lift the Flyers in Game 5

WASHINGTON - The Flyers grew up a little Friday night. They channeled the spirit of their late owner and the composure of their goaltender and the determination of their coach. They withstood the Fury the Capitals seek to unleash every night at the Verizon Center, but it was the Flyers who had the successful road trip.

WASHINGTON - The Flyers grew up a little Friday night.

They channeled the spirit of their late owner and the composure of their goaltender and the determination of their coach. They withstood the Fury the Capitals seek to unleash every night at the Verizon Center, but it was the Flyers who had the successful road trip.

They managed to steal Game 5, 2-0, and close the gap against the Capitals to three games to two.

How? Outshot, 37-8, through the first 46 minutes, but still they led, 1-0. They were outshot 44-11 overall, franchise record for fewest shots, and goaltender Michal Neuvirth was wonderful, but it was much more than him.

"Ah, stats are stats," said Ryan White, who was credited with the Flyers' first goal. "We've just got to go win Game 6."

Their one real goal was not pretty, scored off the skate of Taylor Chorney, off the tail of Justin Williams' eighth (eighth!) penalty minute in the first 25 minutes of elapsed game time. But Sam Gagner had the composure to fire it at the net, where Ryan White was waiting, smothered, but his deflection led to another deflection, and if that's the only way the Flyers can beat Braden Holtby, then so be it.

The point is, they used what they had.

Chris VandeVelde added an empty-net goal inside the final minute, which iced the win, but they cannot expect to force a Game 7 with a 34-shot differential, and they cannot seem to keep the Capitals from operating at will.

As usual, they had no answer for Alex Ovechkin, whose combination of skill and power has no match in the league. In the first 35 minutes Ovechkin had clobbered Jake Voracek, Brayden Schenn, White, and Radko Gudas twice. He manhandled Nick Schultz 15 feet from the Flyers' goal, retained possession, and set up a shot.

The Flyers were unruffled; generally, like their goalie, Michal Neuvirth.

"He stole us a game," Gagner said. That didn't happen in the teams' first three playoff meetings.

The Flyers rode Steve Mason into the playoffs, but Mason allowed three soft goals in the first three games, all losses, so Neuvirth got his chance. A knee injury and Mason's play had limited Neuvirth to one start in the past month. It appears that he doesn't need much work to stay sharp. He has allowed goal in 120 must-win minutes. He has stopped 55 straight shots.

"I felt good right from the start," Neuvirth said. "I like to face a lot of shots. I enjoy it."

He was scintillating, at times. His save on Jay Beagle's shorthanded rush in the first period probably kept the Flyers afloat. When an Ovechkin shot bounced onto the stick of Marcus Johansson on the doorstep in the second period, Neuvirth recovered and knocked that one away, too. He never seemed stressed.

"I've known him for about 15 years," said Voracek, a fellow Czech. "I don't think I've ever seem him mad."

But then Neuvirth, when healthy, occasionally has been amazing. He logged shutouts in his first two starts this season and had three in his first six starts. Mainly, though, he did his job. Pretty much everyone did, too.

They got hit; they got up. They didn't try to get even.

They whiffed on a hit; they recovered. Jason Chimera viscously boarded Jake Voracek about 7 minutes into the third period, and guess what? No one retaliated. The Flyers got a power play, and their first shot in about 15 minutes.

They sucked it up, took it like men and gained an advantage.

There was, again, no Claude Giroux; no Voracek.

There were, this time, no excuses.

Late owner Ed Snider, grandly memorialized Thursday, would have been proud.

Lock-jawed coach Dave Hakstol certainly was.

"We did a good job of withstanding their pressure," he said, "and our goaltender was outstanding. Neuvy was our best player . . . and the guys battled hard in front of him, as well. We're playing the game the way that got us here."

They kept skating. They kept trying. They kept their emotions in check.

The power play remained farcical in its impotence, but you know what? The Capitals were the best team in hockey, a No. 1 seed against a No. 8. They're supposed to dominate a team like the Flyers, who have used seven players with no previous playoff experience. They're supposed to outshoot a rebuilding team like the Flyers, whose playoff appearance is a bonus. Maybe not 4-to-1, but they should command the game.

After all, the Flyers are a gutsy bunch of make-dos and misfits who have been playing all-out hockey in a playoff push for two months.

The Capitals, notorious for historic inability to finish off teams, gave them Game 4. The Flyers are supposed to be outclassed, out of gas.

Exhaustion and a talent chasm does not preclude maturation.

That's what happened in Game 5: Maturation. Progress.

And another chance for another step at home Sunday, in Game 6.

@inkstainedretch