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Special teams key to Flyers-Capitals series

IT IS NO great secret in hockey that special teams often can make the difference. A team that performs well on the power play and penalty-kill units probably will win. The team that falters in these two areas usually will lose.

IT IS NO great secret in hockey that special teams often can make the difference.

A team that performs well on the power play and penalty-kill units probably will win. The team that falters in these two areas usually will lose.

The special teams of the Washington Capitals present an interesting challenge for the Flyers as the teams open their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series Thursday night at the Verizon Center.

The Capitals finished the regular season ranked fifth on the power play, scoring on 21.91 percent of their chances.

Washington was even more impressive in penalty killing, turning away 85.1 percent of man-advantage chances against it, tied for second.

Playing an opponent that scores efficiently on the power play and defends the net well on the kill puts the Flyers in an unenviable position.

That is, if you were to care about things like that - which the Flyers seemingly don't.

"Oh, that's fine," Flyers right wing Wayne Simmonds said after practice Wednesday. "It's a new season. Everything starts from zero now.

"(The Capitals) are not No. 5 and No. 2 anymore. I think special teams is obviously a big part of a series, so we've got to make sure we're executing on the power play and the (penalty kill).

"We don't want to be in the box too much, but we're going to try to be the team that's initiating everything, so we can eliminate the penalties that we do take."

It's about controlled aggression.

These aren't the beat-you-up Flyers of legendary Broad Street lore, but being tough and physical has always been part of Flyers hockey. Philadelphia ranked just outside the top 10 with 443 minutes, 54 seconds of penalty-kill time.

The Orange and Black can't go rough and ready on everything in red that moves but neither can it play passively, worrying about taking too many whistles.

That would work in Washington's favor.

Recently, the Flyers have been getting asked a lot about the need to play disciplined hockey - which is something coach Dave Hakstol said he has a hard time understanding.

"That's not really an issue," Hakstol said. "I've been interested in the number of questions on that over the last couple of days.

"We've been a pretty disciplined team, yet we played pretty damn hard down the stretch. I think we know what that balance is. That's the way I answer that question. That's truthful, honest and blunt."

Still, in a series, especially one that goes more than five games, teams get tired of each other, nerves get frayed, and things tend to get chippy. Players must keep focus on the big picture and not let the side issues put the team in a tough spot.

Capitals center Alex Ovechkin had an NHL-high 19 power-play goals and T.J. Oshie added 11.

"We're going to play whistle to whistle," said Simmonds, who was sixth in the league with 13 power-play goals. "I don't know, maybe you've got to take a number and go lay a good hit during the play, if possible.

"I don't think we can have anything going on after the whistle that's going to lead to a penalty. (Washington has) some dangerous weapons over there. You don't want to give them too many opportunities with a man advantage."

The Flyers ranked third in the league in power-play time (472 minutes) and were eighth in pp/pk differential at plus-28:06.

The Capitals were fifth in the league with 55 power-play goals, but the Flyers were right behind with 53. Washington, however, was more effective, getting its goals in 255 power-play opportunities. The Flyers had a conference-high 280 opportunities, but converted only 18.9 percent. That needs to improve in this series, because Washington will surrender penalty-kill time, ranking 15th.

The issue is that the Capitals' penalty kill surrendered multiple power-play goals in a game only twice.

Still, against a team that was second to the Dallas Stars with 252 goals and one of only two to average three goals a game, man-advantage opportunities will be too precious to squander.

"I think our power play could be better and we know that," Flyers captain Claude Giroux said. "We've been working on it. We've been talking about it.

"Now we just have to go out there and get the job done."

The theory is not complicated - get more power-play opportunities than you give up and capitalize on those that come your way.

"I think special teams are going to be huge," said Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere, who tied for the rookie lead with eight power-play goals, sixth among all defensemen. "I think that can make or break a series.

"If you have a dead power play or a dead (penalty kill), it's going to hurt you."

@SmallTerp