WASHINGTON _ Sudden thoughts and second thoughts as the Flyers won their seventh in a row.
_ The headline. The Flyers are one point out of first place in the Metro Division. About eight weeks ago, they were 15 points out and fighting for their playoff lives.
_ J.V. Arrrrgh. There was some bad news. Winger James van Riemsdyk left halfway through the first period after blocking a shot with his right hand. Gotta think it's serious and that Joe Farabee spent Wednesday night on the turnpike getting to Philly.
_ Play of the game. Derek Grant's redirection of Nick Aube-Kubel's pass to Kevin Hayes for the Flyers' second goal.
_ Brian's song. There was some question as to whether Carter Hart should have started in net, but Brian Elliott did just fine. Moose stopped 25 shots, proving coach Alain Vigneault again made the right call.
_ Yo, ref. Capitals thumper Tom Wilson should have gotten an instigator penalty for his first-period fight with Nate Thompson. He was given an extra two minutes, but it was for roughing. The instigator would have carried a 10-minute misconduct. Refs also missed a high-stick by Robert Hagg on Evgeny Kuznetsov.
_ Even the nerds fought. The Flyers Twitter account lauded Robert Hagg for jumping in and fighting Wilson after Claude Giroux was run at by Wilson late in the second period. They showed a gif of Hagg getting two early lefts in on Wilson. Caps' Twitter responded by showing the rest of the bout, which was decidedly in Wilson's favor.
_ Hollywood's night. Kevin Hayes had a goal, an assist and was a monster throughout. The Flyers are 19-0-1 when he scores a goal.
_ Kill switch. The Flyers gave the Caps 17 power-plays in four games this season. They killed 16 of them.
_ O no. In four games this season, Alex Ovechkin did not register a point against the Flyers and was -4. He came into the season with 59 points in 53 games in his career against the Flyers.
_ First off. The last 11 Flyers games had gone over 1.5 goals in the first period until Wednesday night. The teams combined for 14 shots on goal, but the Capitals scored the only goal.
