To do what the Flyers did tonight in Washington was perhaps their most impressive performance of the season.

Give them an Oscar!

Really, to go into Washington, the toughest arena for a visitor in the East this season, get down two goals and then fight back to win without your best defenseman is a statement-and-a-half.

Kudos to the following for really strong or gutsy performances....

Antero Niittymaki continues to be the better Flyers' goalie. I'm almost at the point where I'm ready to say he should start in the playoffs. I'm not there yet, but I'm getting close.

Joffrey Lupul played through a painful thigh contusion to rejoin his mates on the second line and set up both the game-tying and game-winning goal.

Mike Richards gets better and better each game. He played physically (burying Tom Poti behind the Caps net) and with finesse (making a sweet pass to Claude Giroux for a goal).

Ryan Parent did a tremendous job of shutting down Alex Ovechkin. Sure Ovie scored, but that was because of a Jeff Carter giveaway. Parent wasn't on the ice for that shift either. Good game by the youngster.

Here's some notes and quotes:

This was the first game the Caps have lost in regulation when Ovechkin has scored multiple points (21-1-1).

The Flyers' snapped Washington's 13-game home winning streak against the East.

The Flyers have scored eight third period goals against Washington this season, the most of any Washington opponent.

Scott Hartnell now leads the NHL in minor penalties with 41.

Ossi Vaananen only played 9:20 but was a team-best plus-2 for the Flyers.

Riley Cote had one assist in his first 42 games, he has two in his last four.

Caps' coach Bruce Boudreau on his team not playing with any fight in the third period:

"I don't like the word fight because that implies we quit and we didn't quit... Instead of getting back to the basics and doing the things like coming out together and doing the things that make us successful, everybody wanted to do it themselves and they started cheating. When you start cheating, bad things happen and you start taking selfish and stupid penalties. That's not losing the fight, that's playing stupid."