Flyers Show Too Much Talent for Caps

Players Meet After Another Frustrating Loss : Flyers 3, Capitals 1

The Washington Capitals' locker room door remained shut for much longer than usual following last night's 3-1 loss to the Atlantic Division-leading Philadelphia Flyers.

For the second consecutive game, the Capitals forced one of the NHL's top teams to sweat out an intense third period only to fall short at home. Afterward, the players held a 10-minute meeting, the subject of which could mark a turning point in the rebuilding team's collective psyche.

"We just cleared the air a little bit," goaltender Olie Kolzig said. "We need to get better at things and guys hate losing. Good efforts aren't good enough anymore. We've got to start finding a way to win these games."

Kolzig did his part, making 30 saves in front of a crowd of 16,876. But the Capitals allowed the road-weary Flyers, playing for the second straight night, to tie the game short-handed, go ahead on the power play and then stay ahead by foiling two lengthy five-on-three advantages.

"If people think we don't work at it and we don't want to score, come to Piney Orchard at noon and watch us," Coach Glen Hanlon said, referring to his team's struggling power play. "We work on it and the players are trying."

They are also frustrated. Last night, the Capitals had two five-on-three power plays for a total of 2 minutes 19 seconds, yet logged just one shot. On Wednesday, in their 3-1 loss to Northeast Division leading Ottawa, they had four two-man advantages for a total of 3:57, but managed only four shots.

In both games, the Capitals trailed 2-1 before yielding an empty-net goal. Last night, Peter Forsberg iced it for the Flyers, who won for the ninth time in 11 games. Washington, meantime, lost for the fifth time in six games -- and it didn't sit well with the veteran leaders.

"At the start of the year, it was like, 'Let's try to keep it close,' " winger Matt Bradley said. "Now we believe we can win every game. Keeping it close isn't good enough anymore. If we can just tweak a couple of things in our game, we'll be okay."

Alex Ovechkin became the fastest rookie to get to 25 goals in franchise history, putting the Capitals ahead 1-0 with a power play goal about nine minutes into the first period.

It gave the Capitals hope that they might stun the Flyers for the second time in a week, the way they had last Saturday, 4-3, in a shootout at MCI Center last Saturday. The Flyers didn't have leading scorer Simon Gagne in that game, but last night, he and Antero Niittymaki (23 saves) made sure there would be no repeat letdown.

Moments after the Capitals failed to score on a 57-second five-on-three power play early in the second period, Flyers defenseman Mike Rathje turned a Capitals' turnover into a short-handed goal. Rathje scooped up a loose puck in the Capitals' end and led a two-on-one break with Michal Handzus in the other direction. Rathje beat Kolzig with a shot that appeared to squeeze between his arm and side.

Both goaltenders shined early. The highlight for Kolzig was a blocker pad on Forsberg in the first period. Niittymaki, meantime, stopped Matt Pettinger with a glove save from point-blank range in the opening minutes.

The game appeared to swing toward the Flyers when the Capitals failed to convert on its second five-on-three advantage of the second period. That one lasted 1:22 and Washington did not record a shot.

Moments later, Simon Gagne, on a Flyers power play, tapped in a rebound as the puck rolled across the crease behind Kolzig, who was still down after stopping the initial shot. Coming at 17:33, Gagne's score gave the visitors a 2-1 lead and was his 29th goal of the season.

Kolzig made sure it stayed a one-goal deficit early in the third with a glorious glove save on R.J. Umberger. But Niittymaki shut the door. The Capitals' best chance of tying the game came with about seven minutes remaining when defenseman Steve Eminger fed the puck across the crease to Brooks Laich, who was all alone. But Laich was turned aside by Niittymaki, who flicked the puck away with a pad save.

Forsberg clinched it with 19 seconds remaining.

Capitals Notes: Defenseman Ivan Majesky and center Andrew Cassels were healthy scratches; centers Jeff Halpern was out with a knee injury.