Playoff preview? Flyers too much for Capitals in Metropolitan showcase

The Philadelphia Flyers kept their playoff momentum going with a 6-3 win over the Washington Capitals that could prove meaningful in April.

With the Washington Capitals leading the Metropolitan Division by a tenuous two points over the Pittsburgh Penguins and with a four-point lead over the third-place Philadelphia Flyers, every intra-division game has taken on increased playoff significance in these waning days of the regular season.

This Metropolitan tilt lived up to the hype and set the stage nicely for a potential first round match-up between the two Eastern Conference frontrunners who seem to share no love for each other.

Washington, playing without first-line center Evgeny Kuznetsov, who took a nasty tumble into the boards on Friday and is listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury, was not at its best in this one.

The game seemed to fall out of the Capitals’ reach in the second period after Alexander Ovechkin’s 43rd goal was answered by Oscar Lindblom’s first NHL tally for the Flyers and a goal from Wayne Simmonds to end the period.

When Simmonds scored again to start the third to push the score to 4-1, the wind seemed to be taken out of the Caps’ sails. A little donnybrook between two guys who rarely fight, T.J. Oshie and Travis Konecny, gave the Caps a bit of life and led to a quick goal from fourth-liner Chandler Stevenson, but the Flyers were quick to take back the momentum and the final outcome never really seemed in doubt.

Philadelphia looked to be done early on in the season when they dropped 10 games straight and were sitting near the bottom of a Metropolitan Division that does not brook failures like that lightly. They clawed their way back up the standings over the course of the next few months, and with only nine games left in their season they found themselves playing in a meaningful game here in late March that could serve to cement their position in the division.

The Flyers were sharp in this one, getting scoring from their top lines and two goals from defensemen, showcasing the depth that could make them a nightmare first round matchup for the Caps.

As for the Caps, they will need to find an answer to the Flyers’ top line of Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny, who were buzzing all night in this one and gave the Caps fits with their speed and puck movement. Should these two teams meet in the first round, the Caps need to find a better way to contain them then they showed last night, or an upset seems more than possible.

With the win, the Flyers take the season series with the Caps 2-1 and have nine games remaining, six against teams that are currently out of the playoffs.

Washington has a similar outlook, with ten games remaining and six games against teams out of the dance. Both teams have upcoming games against the Pittsburgh Penguins that will be circled on their calendars, the Flyers on March 25 and the Caps on April 1. Those game will probably go a long way in determining the first-round matchups and the final outlook in the Metropolitan.

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With the current parity of the division, every point will be crucial for both of these teams, and wins against the teams below them in the standings will be the key to cementing their positions.