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24	December 2019

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PHILADELPHIA -- Claude Giroux has put an early-season slump well behind him. Saints Jerseys China . At this rate, the Flyers captain is set to be remembered more for a fantastic finish. Giroux and Jakub Voracek each had two goals, and Michael Raffl and Steve Downie also scored to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 6-4 win over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. Andrew MacDonald had an assist in his first game since he was acquired from the New York Islanders. The Flyers won for the seventh time in eight games and are second in the Metropolitan Division, far removed from the team that started a franchise-worst 1-7. Giroux didnt score a goal in his first 15 games, but now has 23 in 63 games this season. Giroux and Voracek are hot at the right time. "Theyre the leaders of this team," goalie Steve Mason said. "When they are going, everybody follows." The Flyers chased Washington goalie Braden Holtby after taking a 4-0 lead early in the second period. Holtby was replaced by Philipp Grubauer for the rest of the game -- and could face some competition the rest of the season. The Capitals acquired Jaroslav Halak from Buffalo for backup goalie Michal Neuvirth and defenceman Rostislav Klesla at the NHL trade deadline earlier in the day. Alex Ovechkin, Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer nearly rallied the Capitals with three straight goals in the third. Brooks Laich also scored. "Its not how were supposed to start the game," Ovechkin said. "We just have to play better right away." Giroux continued to put a slow start far behind him as he leads the Flyers resurgence. His goals in each of the first two periods gave him nine in the last 11 games. Perhaps fueled by his Olympic snub, he has nine assists over that span, and has again positioned the Flyers as a tough post-season out. Both teams turned back the clock with a line brawl in the first period that saw Washingtons John Erskine and Philadelphias Vincent Lecavalier get tossed. Philadelphias Luke Schenn drilled Ryan Stoa into the boards, then was confronted by Tom Wilson. Wilson, who earned a 10-minute misconduct, fought Schenn while the rest of the lines went at it near the corner boards. Philadelphias Wayne Simmonds tried to pull off Erskine, allowing Lecavalier to get in a free shot. The crowd went wild and helmets littered the ice during the brawl that finally ended with the Flyers short-handed. The Flyers killed the penalty -- and continued to dominate Washington. After three periods, the Flyers had outshot them 23-8. "There was a lot of emotion the first two periods," Giroux said. "There was a lot of good stuff." The ended the first period up 2-0. Sean Couturier freed the puck after a clean hit on Jack Hillen along the boards, and Giroux pounced for his first goal. Voracek scored less than 2 minutes later on a power-play goal, firing from the top of the circle. Mike Greens turnover early in the second led to Girouxs unassisted goal and Halls fifth goal of the season came on a deflection for a 4-0 lead. That was all for Holtby, who allowed four goals on 18 shots. "We didnt come out with enough to let them know that were here," Capitals coach Adam Oates said. The Capitals, just outside the playoff picture at the moment, nearly pulled off an amazing comeback. Ward made it 4-1, Ovechkin scored his 44th goal after the Flyers failed to clear the puck, and Brouwer fired a perfect pass from Hillen past Mason to make it a one-goal game. The Capitals took 12 shots on goal in the first 11 minutes, forcing Flyers coach Craig Berube to call timeout. Voracek gave the Flyers a needed cushion when he raced down the slot and pounded the puck past Grubauer for the 5-3 lead. Laich deflected the puck past Mason with 6 minutes left in the game to make it 5-4. But they could never score the tying goal. Downie capped the scoring with an empty-netter. Both teams were busy leading up to Wednesdays deadline. The Flyers landed MacDonald and sent defenceman Andrej Meszaros to the Boston Bruins for a 2014 third-round draft choice. Washington made two deals Tuesday, adding left wing Dustin Penner in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks, while shipping forward Martin Erat to Phoenix. NOTES: With Halak unavailable, the Capitals recalled Grubauer from Hershey of the American Hockey League before the game. He had been scheduled to make a personal appearance at a Turkey Hill Mini Market in Lancaster, Pa. ... The Flyers won three of five games in the season series. New Orleans Saints Gear . Cilic cruised to victory, beating the seventh-seeded Seppi 6-1, 6-3 in just 72 minutes. He faced only one break point, winning 24 out of 29 points played on the first serve. New Orleans Saints Store . Vargas (8-3) allowed four singles and two walks while striking out five, allowing only two runners from a diluted Twins lineup to reach second base. Mike Moustakas and Jarrod Dyson hit RBI singles in the second inning against Kevin Correia (4-10), and that was all Vargas needed. https://www.saintsjerseyssale.com/ . More importantly, he is trying to show his young teammates the Colorado are still post-season contenders. He hopes winning a series at home was a fresh start.MANCHESTER, England -- Liverpool underlined its new-found superiority over Manchester United with a humbling 3-0 victory over its great rival on Sunday, virtually ending the beleaguered champions chances of qualifying for the Champions League. On the darkest day of David Moyes tumultuous first season at Old Trafford, United was outclassed as Steven Gerrard converted two penalties -- and missed a third -- and Luis Suarez completed the crushing win with his 25th goal of the campaign. Liverpool moved up to second and within four points of leader Chelsea with a game in hand, and can realistically aim to win a first league title since 1990. "To come here and dominate from start to finish, were still going away slightly disappointed that we didnt score more goals," said Gerrard, whose penalties came in the 34th and 46th minutes. "Weve showed today that we are genuine contenders and we are going to fight to the end for this." While Liverpool capitalized on Chelseas 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Saturday with another effervescent attacking display, United couldnt be at a lower ebb after being humiliated in arguably the biggest match in English football, which was watched by Argentina great Diego Maradona. Their defending was shambolic and reckless -- there could have been more than three penalties awarded -- and Nemanja Vidic was sent off for his second booking in the lead-up to the third spot kick that Gerrard struck against the post in the 78th. Moyes has a massive job to pick his team up in time for Wednesday, when United tries to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit against Olympiakos in the Champions Leagues last 16. That is their final shot at silverware. "Its a nightmare," United striker Wayne Rooney said after the teams fifth home defeat in the league, which left it 12 points off fourth-place Manchester City having played two more games. "Its one of the worst days Ive ever had in football." Liverpool had lost on its previous six visits to Old Trafford and seemingly had an inferiority complex whenever it came to the home of its biggest foe. No more. Brendan Rodgers men were brighter and more courageous on the ball, played at a quicker tempo and were more incisive going forward.. Stitched Saints Jerseys. For the first time in a generation, they were widely seen as favourites for a match at United, even in the opinion of Moyes. It could have been 6-0 or 7-0 by the end as Liverpool ran amok. In the closing stages, with United down to 10 men and having virtually given up, it evoked memories of the 6-1 home loss to Manchester City two seasons ago. Liverpool has gone from finishing 28 points behind United, the champions last season, to being 14 points ahead of them this season. "The biggest thing of where we have come in the last year is belief," Rodgers said. "I was probably surprised before the game when we were supposedly coming to Old Trafford at favourites. I would never say that at Liverpool, even if we were bottom. Anfield is Anfield and we expect to win. We have a mentality that I have been developing that we expect to win." United hadnt had a chance of note by the time Liverpool deservedly went ahead, at the culmination of a disastrous 90 seconds for Rafael da Silva. Soon after earning a yellow card for a reckless lunge at Gerrard, the Brazilian right back was caught out of position from a deep cross from Liverpools right, allowing Suarez to bring the ball down and past Rafael in one touch. Rafael flicked out a hand and gave away a penalty that Gerrard dispatched into the corner with some aplomb. Fans were still filtering back to their seats after halftime when Phil Jones barged into Joe Allen in the area, 23 seconds after the restart. There were no complaints when the referee awarded a penalty and Gerrard found the right corner again, this time low down, for his seventh successful spot kick in 2014. By the middle of the second half, Liverpool was stringing passes together to a soundtrack of "Oles" from the Liverpool visitors. The superiority of the visitors was marked and United was just way off the pace. "Its difficult to explain," Moyes said. It got even worse for Moyes beleaguered side when Vidic was given a second yellow card for bringing down Sturridge in the box in the 77th. Gerrard struck a low effort against the post but Liverpool wasnt to be denied a third, Sturridge slipping a pass through for Suarez to collect and shoot home. ' ' '