Thirty Stories Up

Finishing is still a problem, and I have a feeling it’s going to be what separates the Capitals’ bubble guys from the others; Green has had no trouble converting this preseason, but Bradley today had the goalie beat and put a puck into the crossbar instead of the water bottle. After 12 minutes of the first period, when you get your first shot of the game and it’s that good, you have to make sure that you find the twine with it.

Boyd Gordon is really impressive this preseason; if he hasn’t made a case for his spot on the Capitals, nobody has. I’d hope at this point that he has that third-line center spot for Clark and Pettinger just about locked up, which is going to make for a fantastic shutdown line with Gordon’s defensive ability, Clark’s grit and ability to cause chaos, and Pettinger’s goal-scoring ability.

Eminger must have read the piece in the Post today about being a bubble player; he sends it towards the net, and Sutherby pokes a stick in there to redirect it and find the twine to tie it up. Jurcina and Fleischmann immediately follow it with a 2-on-1; I already think that Jurcina is one of the best defensemen on the team, and if he keeps jumping into offensive plays and making a difference, a lot more people are going to take notice this season.

Vogel makes an interesting point that Flash was benched for the last half of the third period last night, which is something I hadn’t noticed; I had known he was jumping ahead of the play and killing some good rushes by being a step offsides, and tonight he’s been ahead of the play and taken an unnecessary slashing call.

The Flyers owned the first in terms of puck possession and shots, but Sutherby’s tip-in keeps the Capitals tied up where it counts.

Also, apparently the Alexanders (one each of the Ovechkin and Semin varieties) made the drive together from D.C. to come watch their younger teammates play. That’s got to be good for team chemistry, knowing that your star teammates will come on their night off to watch an away game.

A shot by Eager from the point after a clean faceoff win beats Brent Johnson and puts the Flyers up 2-1.

Laich makes his way down the tunnel briefly after a big hit shakes him up midway through the second.

Biron holds up against a fantastic flurry. Eminger is just flurrying shots at the goalie here, he’s definitely angling for a big game tonight.

Gordon is still impressing, making a wraparound shot that ricochets off of Biron’s skate.

Despite a few good flurries by the Caps, the Flyers hold the 2-1 lead going into the third.

Erskine doesn’t get beaten in fights often, but tonight he gets taken down by Boulerice.

Nice move by the Flyers’ arena production staff, putting Bradley and Klepis on the ‘Kiss-Cam’. They may be on the bubble, but they play to the camera enough to get a laugh out of the road crowd.

Lots of back-and-forth play in this third period, with nobody really dominating.

Bigger cheer from the crowd for the Nationals rallying from a 6-run deficit to take the lead over the Mets, which keeps the Phillies (who are also winning) in the race for the NL East.

Philly hangs on late on the penalty kill, stopping a 6-on-4 power play and running out the clock to cling to the 2-1 win over the Capitals.

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