12/20/08 7-1 Win SCORING 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total WSH 0 0 1 - - 1 PHI 1 2 4 - - 7 _______________________________ SHOTS 1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Total WSH 25 14 9 - - 48 PHI 6 7 15 - - 28

*** PostGame Interviews & Coach’s Press Conference ***

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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – Scott Hartnell had a hat trick and Antero Niittymaki finished the game with 47 saves as the Philadelphia Flyers crushed the Washington Capitals, 7-1, at the Wachovia Center.

Jeff Carter had two goals and two assists while Joffrey Lupul added a goal and three assists for the Flyers, who have won six of their last seven games.

Brooks Laich scored the lone goal for the Capitals, who had a five-game winning streak stopped. Brent Johnson started the game in net, but was pulled after two periods as he gave up three goals on 13 shots. Jose Theodore, though, fared little better between the pipes as he gave up four goals on 15 shots.

Philadelphia grabbed the lead early in the first period as Hartnell moved up the ice and from the middle of the blueline fed the puck over to Lupul, who beat a defender and from the right circle fired a shot past Johnson at the 4:29 mark.

It was Niittymaki, though, who was the star of the first period as Washington threw shots on net from everywhere and the goaltender stopped all 25 shots he saw.

His best save came near the midway mark of the frame while Washington was on the power play as he flashed the glove on an Alexander Ovechkin one-timer from the left circle.

The 25 shots on net set team records for Philadelphia and Washington. It was the most shots allowed on net in one period at home for Philadelphia while it was the most shots in a road game for Washington.

The Capitals continued to pepper Niittymaki with shots in the second period as the team got 14 on net, but it was the Flyers who were able to find the back of the net.

With the puck in his own end, Lupul sprung Carter with a pass through the neutral zone. Carter skated into the Washington end and from the left circle used the defender as a screen on a wrister past Johnson with 4:49 left in the frame.

Just 54 seconds later, Carter scored again on a shorthanded goal. The team pressured the puck-holder at the left point and Braydon Coburn wound up with the disc. He sprung Carter on the breakaway and Carter calmly lifted a backhander past Johnson.

Just 4:45 into the third, Philadelphia took a 4-0 lead as Hartnell caused a turnover with a hit behind the net and centered the puck for Lupul, whose one- timer was stopped, but Hartnell slammed the rebound home from the right side.

Washington, though, got on the board just 24 seconds later as Laich went from the forehand to the backhand and got the puck past Niittymaki.

On the power play, Philadelphia got the goal back as Matt Carle’s one-timer from the right circle was stopped by Theodore, but the puck popped into the air and Hartnell whacked it home at the 7:29 mark.

The Flyers then made it a 6-1 game with a 5-on-3 power-play goal as Carter fired a pass from the left side to the right where Simon Gagne had the easy dunk into the net with 10:41 to play.

Hartnell gained the hat trick with 3:35 left in the game as he finished a tic- tac-toe play.

Game Notes

The 25 shots on net in the first period tied a franchise record for the Capitals which it set on February 3, 1998 against Tampa Bay in Washington… The most ever shots allowed in one period by Philadelphia was 32, which occurred in the first period of a game in Minnesota on December 13, 1972… Philadelphia plays in New Jersey on Sunday…Washington plays against the Rangers in New York on Tuesday…Philadelphia went 2-for-5 on the power play and scored its league-leading 13th shorthanded goal of the season…Philadelphia has not lost a game at home in regulation since November 8 against Tampa Bay and is 9-0-2 since at Wachovia.

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Scoring

Washington Capitals:
5. B. Laich (8) (T. Fleischmann (7)) 5:09 3rd Pd

Philadelphia Flyers:
1. J. Lupul (11) (S. Hartnell (11), M. Carle (6)) 4:29 1st Pd
2. J. Carter (23) (J. Lupul (8), A. Alberts (8)) 15:11 2nd Pd
3. J. Carter (24) (B. Coburn (11), M. Knuble (10)) 16:05 2nd Pd
4. S. Hartnell (11) (J. Lupul (9)) 4:45 3rd Pd
6. S. Hartnell (12) (M. Carle (7), K. Timonen (18)) 7:29 3rd Pd
7. S. Gagne (17) (J. Carter (12), K. Timonen (19)) 9:19 3rd Pd
8. S. Hartnell (13) (J. Lupul (10), J. Carter (13)) 16:25 3rd Pd

Penalties

Washington Capitals:
D. Brashear (Fighting) 7:38 1st Pd
D. Brashear (Roughing) 19:57 1st Pd
B. Laich (Holding) 10:53 2nd Pd
S. Morrisonn (Cross-checking) 5:43 3rd Pd
M. Green (Tripping) 8:06 3rd Pd
D. Brashear (Roughing) 8:06 3rd Pd
S. Morrisonn (Hooking) 9:04 3rd Pd
D. Brashear (Fighting) 12:03 3rd Pd
M. Bradley (Fighting) 17:54 3rd Pd
D. Brashear (Unsportsmanlike conduct) 18:01 3rd Pd
D. Brashear (Misconduct) 18:01 3rd Pd

Philadelphia Flyers:
M. Knuble (Roughing) 1:26 1st Pd
R. Cote (Fighting) 7:38 1st Pd
K. Timonen (Tripping) 8:13 1st Pd
J. Lupul (Cross-checking) 10:59 1st Pd
R. Cote (Slashing) 4:02 2nd Pd
O. Vaananen (Interference) 15:47 2nd Pd
J. Gratton (Tripping) 8:06 3rd Pd
R. Cote (Fighting) 12:03 3rd Pd
J. Gratton (Fighting) 17:54 3rd Pd
A. Asham (Slashing) 18:01 3rd Pd
A. Asham (Misconduct) 18:01 3rd Pd

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 20th, 2008 at 6:45 PM and is filed under Antero Niittymaki, Braydon Coburn, Flyers, Game Recaps, Jeff Carter, Joffrey Lupul, Matt Carle, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Regular Season, Scott Hartnell, Simon Gagne, Tampa Bay Lightning, Wachovia Center, Washington Capitals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.