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Neuvirth shocks Capitals with 44-save shutout, Flyers win Game 5
Before joining the Philadelphia Flyers, Michal Neuvirth played 134 regular-season and nine playoff games as a member of the Washington Capitals from 2008-14.
None of those performances are in the same conversation with the 44-save masterpiece he painted at Verizon Center on Friday night, with the Flyers facing elimination and putting on an offensive performance that made it appear they were playing barefoot with swimming pool noodles instead of with skates and sticks.
The Flyers won Game 5, 2-0, getting outshot by the Capitals by a 44-11 count.
Once more, with feeling: The Capitals had 33 more shots on goal than did the Flyers. The Flyers were outshot 30-5 in the last 40 minutes of the game.
That only scratches the surface of the disparity in play: The Capitals attempted 82 shots in Game 5; the Flyers attempted 27. This was one of the most lopsided possession games in recent memory, and potentially since the birth of Jim Corsi.
It’s like comparing the staircase to the top of the Washington Monument with a step stool.
An example of how bad the offensive attack was for the Flyers: Jakub Voracek took a slap shot from 47 feet away from the Capitals goal 9:41 into the second period. They didn’t have another one until 6:31 had elapsed in the third period – a span of around 16 minutes.
As expected in a game like this, the Flyers’ goal was a messy fluke.
Ryan White was in front of the net as the final seconds ticked away on the Flyers’ power play. Sam Gagner’s shot was saved by Capitals goalie Braden Holtby, but White got his stick on the rebound and desperately swept it back towards the crease … where it deflected off the leg of Washington defenseman Taylor Chorney and into the net at 7:52 of the second period.
Chris VandeVelde added an empty netter at 19:29 to ice it, in a period when the Flyers were outshot 14-3.
It was a performance for the ages from Neuvirth, and it had to be given the Flyers’ offensive invisibility. But the former Capitals goalie pulled it off, and in the process sent this series back to the Thunderdome of the Wells Fargo Center, where Game 6 will take place at noon ET on Sunday.
The Capitals, by the way, have one goal in their last six periods.
As we noted before Game 5: In the dark corners of Capitals’ fans minds, where they keep things like “worst case scenarios for another playoff disappointment,” you’ll find a concept in which their former goalie, who requested a trade when the current goalie was given the job, returns as a member of their hated rival and orchestrates a reverse sweep after the Flyers fall behind 3-0 in the series. In the process, he finds a new and exciting way to absolutely crush the Stanley Cup dreams of this woebegone franchise.
But that can’t actually happen … can it?
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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