passed across the blue line to Garry Galley. Galley fired low at the target, but Dale Hunter stopped the attempt about halfway to the net and re-shot the puck. Hextall, already down trying to catch the Galley shot, didn't have a chance to readjust. The light went on and the Capitals had taken a 4–3 lead with just under 15:00 to go, needing only 6 seconds of their power play to score. But Philadelphia was not about to go quietly. Just over a minute later, the Flyers won a faceoff in their offensive zone and the puck came back to defenseman Brad Marsh who fired a low shot that somehow found its way through the legs and sticks of a half-dozen players before zooming past Peeters and into the net for the tying goal. Again, initiation was the sincerest form of flattery in this series, although it had been defined by flattening throughout. Both defenses tightened up and very few scoring chances came for the rest of regulation and the game went to overtime tied 4–4. Having already lost one dramatic overtime game in the series and still stinging from the heartbreak of the previous season's quadruple-overtime playoff loss at home in Game 7 in the famed Easter Epic (rated the #7 game in New York Islanders history), Capitals fans were not relishing bonus hockey. Adding to the uncertainty was whether all the bad blood that had been spilled in this series might dramatically affect the outcome. No one knew how this one was going to end. It almost ended in less than 5 seconds. Philadelphia won the opening faceoff and Mark Howe skated across the red line and fired a long, high slapshot. Pete Peeters reached up to catch it, but the puck deflected off his glove and came down just high and wide of the goal. Neither team had a real decent scoring opportunity, though, until a Washington defensive clear wound up springing Mike Gartner on a breakaway. As the Caps leading goal scorer tried to catch up to the pass, he was hooked down from behind by Mark Howe, giving the Capitals a rare overtime power play. Washington had Hextall out of position three times early in the man advantage but couldn't get a clean shot away. Then, as things looked to be cooling off, Scott Stevens was taken down, but still managed to get the puck