The first period was a back and forth battle for the lead after the Flyers scored the first goal of the game. Former Flyer, Mike Knuble, evened the score with a nifty goal at the net after a feed by Alex Ovechkin. The Flyers, who earned only 4 total minutes of penalties compared to Washingtons' 12, still managed to toss Alex Ovechkin off a play, resulting in his 6th career penalty shot. Ovechkin made it count, backhanding the puck past a sprawling Ray Emery. But, it was a two goal tally, one of which was shorthanded, and assist by "Iron Man" Brooks Laich that helped push the Caps to a lead in the 3rd period. Laich had been concerned over his play of late and spent some time reviewing video with Coach Boudreau. Keeping it simple and sticking to his net-crashing style, Laich finally had his hard work rewarded, earning the 1st star of the game.
The second star of the game was awarded to Alexander Semin, who tallied his 20th goal of the year, and the 3rd went to Alex Ovechkin, who tallied his 30th goal -for the 5th consecutive year!!
