PHILADELPHIA — Daniel Briere pounced on a loose puck and knocked in the rebound at 3:52 of overtime to lift the Flyers to a 6-5 victory over the Capitals on Tuesday night.
“There’s no doubt it’s fun once in a while,” Briere said of overtime. “I think it’s exciting. It’s great for the fans.”
Mike Richards bested Alex Ovechkin with his second career hat trick to help the Flyers improve to 3-0 for the first time since the 1998-99 season. Ovechkin scored twice and has five goals in three games for Washington.
Ovechkin and Richards scored all their goals in a wildly entertaining second period. The teams scored seven times, and Capitals goalie Semyon Varlamov was yanked for Jose Theodore.
“It’s not the ideal way to win, but every once in a while you have to find a way to win these games,” Richards said.
Matt Carle, who won the 2006 Hobey Baker Award while attending the University of Denver, set a Flyers record among defensemen for most assists in a period with four in the second. The last defenseman to record four assists in one period was Los Angeles’ Rob Blake, who did it in the second against Calgary on Jan. 29, 1998.
Alexander Semin scored twice for the Capitals.
“We don’t want to get involved in a track meet with the Pittsburghs and the Washingtons of the world,” Flyers coach John Stevens said. “I think we’re built just a little bit differently, but we do have an exciting offensive team and I think you saw that.”
Ovechkin and Richards turned the second period into a rapid-fire game of 1-on-1 that gave a sold-out crowd at the Flyers’ home opener its money’s worth.
After a scoreless first, Richards took a fantastic pass from Carle and shot high from the red line 1:37 into the period for the power-play goal to make it 1-0.
The fans were just winding down from the replay when Ovechkin scored thanks to a turnover and tied it only 67 seconds later. Ovechkin made it 2-2, and Richards had another goal on the power play that tied it at 3-all.
“He’s a great player and this was a great game,” Ovechkin said of Richards.
When Richards scored his third goal of the period only 18 seconds after his second and put it past Varlamov, the crowd burst into cheers, littering the ice with 492 hats and causing a brief stoppage. Richards pumped his fists and was mobbed by teammates after giving Philadelphia a 4-3 lead.
