PHILADELPHIA — Nick Cousins and Sam Gagner scored in a shootout after Brayden Schenn tied the score in regulation late in the third period to lift the Philadelphia Flyers to a 2-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
The win propelled the Flyers out of a tie with the Detroit Red Wings for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Alex Ovechkin scored in regulation for Washington, which was seeking a franchise record for victories after already clinching home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs with the league’s best regular-season record.
Steve Mason made 29 saves in regulation and overtime for the Flyers and stopped T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov in the tiebreaker.
Cousins, Philadelphia’s first shooter, beat Braden Holtby through his legs. After an excellent glove save by Mason on Kuznetsov, Gagner shot past Holtby to send the Flyers into a wild celebration in front of their own goal.
The game pitted teams that could match up in the first round of the playoffs. Washington claimed its second Presidents’ Trophy in club history with Monday’s 4-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Ovechkin gave Washington a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal after receiving a pass from Kuznetsov 1:28 into the third period. Ovechkin fired a wrist shot from the left circle past Mason’s glove side. It was Ovechkin’s league-leading 44th goal, and Kuznetsov’s team-high 54th assist.
The Flyers tied it at 1-1 with a power-play goal of their own with 5:28 remaining when Schenn deflected Claude Giroux’s slap shot high over Holtby for his 25th tally of the season.
The Capitals had the best chance in a penalty-filled, entertaining overtime. Nicklas Backstrom’s slap shot on a power play with 3:54 left in the extra session caromed off the post.
Holtby remained on 46 wins, which is two shy of Martin Brodeur’s league record set in 2006-07. He made 33 saves in regulation and overtime.
Mason started his seventh consecutive contest and 12th in the last 13 games. Mason has been pressed into extra duty because Flyers backup goalie Michal Neuvirth is out for the rest of the regular season with an unspecified lower-body injury.
Mason made 18 saves while Holtby stopped 23 shots.
Each team had good chances in the second period. Ovechkin unleashed a wrist shot off the right post four minutes into the period. Holtby made a good save on Ryan White’s one-time attempt from the slot roughly a minute and a half later, and he denied Cousins and Michael Raffl from close range later in the period.
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