Goalie Carter Hart’s 39 saves help the Flyers to a 3-1 victory over the Washington Capitals

WASHINGTON — In the face of Flyers nightmare-inducer Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, goalie Carter Hart didn’t bat an eyelash.

After Ovechkin tied Saturday night’s game at CapitalOne Arena in the first period, Hart repelled and smothered each puck that came his way to help the Flyers to a 3-1 victory. He bailed his team out during weak defensive stretches, giving the Flyers the support to get back on the attack.

The Flyers scored twice in the second period thanks to James van Riemsdyk and Wade Allison, building upon the first goal of the game scored by Scott Laughton on a power play.

The Capitals came out strong in the third period in a comeback attempt, peppering Hart with 11 shots on goal to the Flyers’ two in the first 8 1/2 minutes. However, Hart stood tall all night long, denying 39 of 40 shots for his 13th victory of the season.

“I think Carter really finishes the game for us in the third period,” coach John Tortorella said. “We talked about being on our toes, but we just couldn’t get ourselves going. And I thought he made some great saves in the third.”

The Flyers have scored three or more goals in 13 of their last 18 games, going 9-3-1 when they do so. They have won three straight overall and seven of their last eight. They’ve also won five straight on the road.

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The Capitals started the game much better start than they did on Wednesday, creating nine scoring chances to the Flyers’ two in the first period, according to Natural Stat Trick. Hart was called on to step up when the defense wasn’t getting the job done. On the Capitals’ first power play of the night just three minutes into the opening period, Hart came up with a glove save on a point-blank Tom Wilson shot from the slot. He also denied T.J. Oshie on a partial breakaway with a couple of minutes left in the first.

Hart carried over his strong first-period play into the second, denying all 14 Capitals shots on goal. But in the middle frame, Hart received more help in front from his teammates, limiting the Capitals to eight scoring chances while the Flyers generated 10 of their own. The third period welcomed in another strong effort from the Capitals, who generated 19 shots on goal, but Hart continued to deny them.

“When Hartsy plays the way he does like that, that makes it a little easier on everyone else, too,” van Riemsdyk said. “So, he was outstanding.”

Since the start of the month, the Flyers have made improvements to their power play, scoring on 22.2% of their opportunities (15th in the league) going into Saturday. They continued to build on their power-play momentum when center Lars Eller was called for tripping Zack MacEwen with seven minutes remaining in the first period.

Just 11 seconds into the power play, the Flyers cashed in. Defenseman Tony DeAngelo shot the puck from the blue line, deflecting off the blade of Laughton’s stick and past Capitals goalie Darcy Kuemper to give the Flyers the 1-0 lead. Laughton now has five power-play goals, which ties winger Travis Konecny for the team high. Laughton is up to 11 goals through 39 games, tying his total from last year, which he accomplished in 67 games.

“I think any guy loves being on the power play,” said Laughton, who before this season had never scored an NHL power-play goal. “I think you get all the puck touches. It gives you a little confidence in your five-on-five game. ... But I didn’t play it much here in the last seven, eight years. So I’m trying to make the most of my opportunity and contribute as much as I can and it’s going in right now.”

The Flyers’ power play finished 1-for-4.

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While the Capitals carried some momentum from Ovechkin’s first-period goal into the opening minutes of the second, the Flyers found a way to take advantage of their opponent’s mistakes. Five minutes into the second, Kuemper played the puck up the wall right onto the tape of Morgan Frost. He passed the puck into the corner for Owen Tippett, whose feed for van Riemsdyk drew Kuemper out of his crease. Van Riemsdyk cashed in on an open net to push the Flyers ahead, 2-1.

The Flyers continued to pour on the pressure in the offensive zone, and they struck again just 49 seconds later. After Laughton won an offensive-zone draw and shot the puck on net, Kevin Hayes collected the rebound. He took the puck behind the net, then found Allison for the goal through traffic to make it 3-1.

“Timely goals, some grinding with Alli’s goal,” Tortorella said of his team’s strengths in the second period. “That’s a big goal. They pinched the walls. I thought we were protecting the puck well. No one particular thing, I just thought we played well as a team.”

The Flyers continue their road trip against the Boston Bruins at 1 p.m. Monday. (NBC Sports Philadelphia).