Flyers need to shut down Ovechkin's top line
If the Flyers want to shock the hockey world and knock off Washington in the opening round of the NHL playoffs, it's advisable they stick to Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin like his favorite deodorant.
If the Flyers want to shock the hockey world and knock off Washington in the opening round of the NHL playoffs, it's advisable they stick to Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin like his favorite deodorant.
Ovechkin led the NHL this season with 50 goals - including a league-best 19 on the power play - and how the Flyers defend him and his dangerous linemates, center Nicklas Backstrom and right winger T.J. Oshie, will play a major role in determining the seven-game series.
"They have everything - skill, speed and size," left winger Michael Raffl said after practice Wednesday in Voorhees, where the Flyers prepared for Thursday's series opener in Washington.
Raffl will be on a line with defensive specialist Sean Couturier and Brayden Schenn. Since the Caps get the last line change at home, their top unit may not face Couturier's group much until the series returns to the Wells Fargo Center for Game 3.
"We've done it before," Raffl said of squaring off against Ovechkin's line. "When you play alongside Coots, for the most part of the year you play against the top lines when they're the road team. So I think it'll be a big challenge, but it'll be fun."
In four regular-season games against the Flyers this season, the three players combined for five of the Capitals' 12 goals.
"They can create from nothing," goalie Steve Mason said. "Some of the top players in the NHL are all on that one line, so it's a lot to take care of. It's a big task for our shutdown guys. It's something we've looked at the last couple days on how to handle them, and I think the guys are looking forward to that kind of responsibility."
Defenseman Andrew MacDonald said the Caps trio "play with a lot pace. They're an intelligent line. They all can pass the puck, and they all can shoot, so it's obviously a challenge. But that said, it's a five-man unit versus a five-man unit out there. Everyone's has to be on the same page, and hopefully we can get it done."
Nick Schultz and defensive partner Mark Streit figure to see lots of time against Ovechkin and Co.
Schultz agreed with MacDonald, saying it will take "all five guys" on the ice to contain the high-scoring line, and he noted that the Caps are dangerous throughout their lineup.
"It's a matter of everybody communicating and being in position and try to eliminate their time and space," Schultz said. If Ovechkin is in shooting position, "we have to be close by to make sure he can't get a good shot away."
Brandon Manning and Radko Gudas, the Flyers most physical pairing, are looking forward to trying to shut down the Caps.
"When you look at the matchup of Philly and Washington, it's my kind of hockey," said Manning, who will play in his first playoff game.
Manning relishes the chance to play against the Capitals' top scorers.
"It'll a challenge, but it's exciting," he said. "If the coach is putting you out there against guys like that, there's a reason for it, and you just kind of take it up" a notch.
Right winger Wayne Simmonds called the last regular-season game between the teams - a 2-1 Flyers shootout win last month - "big-boy hockey" because there was limited space provided by the two hard-nosed combatants.
Because they have the last line change in Games 1 and 2, the Capitals may be reluctant to match their best line against Couturier's line. Claude Giroux's line could see lots of action against the Caps' top unit.
"We need to be really responsible defensively," Giroux said.
"You want to play all those guys hard," Manning said, "and try to soften them up a bit for later in the series."
MacDonald had the perfect solution to containing Ovechkin and his linemates.
"The best way to counteract them is to work it in the O-zone and keep the puck down there," he said.