WASHINGTON — Connor McMichael scored twice, Alex Ovechkin got an empty-netter for the 855th goal of his NHL career and the Washington Capitals beat the Philadelphia Flyers 6-3 Wednesday night for their fifth consecutive victory.
The Flyers clawed back from a four-goal deficit to make things interesting, but they still lost their sixth in a row since winning their season opener. They have been outscored 29-14 during this skid that have continued to snowball thanks to a mix of turnovers, bad goaltending and not enough offense to compensate.
Washington was undisciplined in almost blowing a big lead but kept rolling after getting 26 saves from Logan Thompson and production from up and down the lineup. In addition to McMichael’s second and third goals of the season, fourth-line forwards Taylor Raddysh and Nic Dowd also scored for the Capitals, and Pierre-Luc Dubois also had an empty-net goal.
Philadelphia’s Ivan Fedotov allowed four goals on 24 shots in his fourth NHL start and still has yet to win a game. Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett and Matvei Michkov had the Flyers’ goals.
Flyers: Trying to dig out of a deep hole is not the way to go and structure is still lacking, but Michkov, who also had an assist, is as advertised at age 19 and will only get better.
Capitals: Ovechkin, who has two goals this season, is now 40 from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career record.
Thompson denied Morgan Frost on a breakaway late in the second period, then made a series of saves the following shift before intermission to maintain a two-goal lead when the Flyers were pressing.
The Flyers have been outscored 13-5 in second periods this season.
The Flyers host Minnesota on Saturday afternoon in the first half of a home back-to-back this weekend, while the Capitals visit Tampa Bay that same night.
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