Washington, DC (Sports Network) - Danny Briere notched the winner in the shootout as Philadelphia clipped Washington, 5-4, in an entertaining contest at Verizon Center.
Briere opened the third and final round by scoring on a soft shot between the pads of Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth. Alexander Semin looked like he prolonged the session, but as Flyers goaltender Brian Boucher slid, his chance rang off the left post to end the contest.
"The last few games, we're taking a lot of penalties and giving up a lot of power play goals," Briere said. "But 5-on-5, we didn't give up much. A few mistakes, but I thought we played very composed."
Mike Richards notched a goal and assist for the Flyers, who snapped a brief two-game slide that included an incredible 8-7 home loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday.
Jeff Carter, Claude Giroux and Andreas Nodl also tallied for Philadelphia, which wasted a two-goal, third-period lead before emerging victorious. Boucher made his first start since October 25, and won with 33 saves.
Jason Chimera posted a goal and one helper for the Capitals, who couldn't quite rebound from a 5-0 loss in Atlanta on Friday.
Marcus Johansson, Nicklas Backstrom and Eric Fehr also lit the lamp, while Neuvirth allowed four goals on 35 shots.
"There were a lot of power plays for us and for them, and that's why it was a high scoring game," Neuvirth said. "Big comeback by us at the end, but we just couldn't get it done in the shootout."
Boucher was tested before the game was four minutes old as Alex Ovechkin cruised in alone, but the veteran netminder flopped and the shot clanged off the crossbar.
Johansson didn't make a mistake on a quick shot from the slot to give the Caps a 1-0 edge at 8:10.
Despite failing on an early two-man advantage in the second period, the Flyers knotted the score with 6:49 left when Chris Pronger's rising point drive was deflected home by Giroux.
Another score, this time seconds after the end of a power play with 2:13 remaining, gave the Flyers a one-goal edge as Scott Hartnell took a rebound in front and fed Richards on the right side for an easy one-timer.
Philadelphia extended its advantage to 3-1 at the 9:40 mark of the third, as Carter swooped down the left wing and beat Neuvirth with a wrister.
Washington needed just 1:23, and a power play, to draw within one when Backstrom banked a loose puck off Boucher with 8:57 remaining. Richards was whistled for slashing just prior to the goal, and only 28 seconds later Chimera tipped in a shot for a 3-3 game.
However, Nodl's turnaround backhander in the slot off a dish from James van Riemsdyk gave the Flyers a 4-3 edge with 6:07 remaining.
A late man advantage plus an extra attacker for the Capitals resulted in another tying score when Brooks Laich fed Fehr for a right-circle blast with 36.3 seconds to go.
Briere improved to 8-for-19 in shootout chances...This was Philadelphia's first win in America's capital since February 24, 2009...Hartnell skated in his 700th NHL game...The Flyers are 1-0 in the shootout and the Capitals fell to 1-1...Pronger posted two assists for the visitors and Laich added two helpers for the home club.