Joel Ward stepped up with his first career hat trick to lead the Capitals to a 7-0 victory against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Friday night.

Capitals rout struggling Flyers without Ovechkin

**DJ_TrottS; I love how everyone in the stands look to have the time of their lives while watching Emery mutilate Holtby while their team is losing 0-7... We can see that Philadelphia's fans don't have the same priorities while watching hockey. The owners should be happy to know that they will still fill the seats knowing the team will not win a lot of games this year but they will still act like goons and fans seem to prefer that...

**RAZORBLADE1214; Emery deserves a suspension for what he did to Holtby. He obviously didn't want to fight, but he sucker punched him anyways. And how is he the third star? His performance was abysmal.

**PghPenguins3; For people who think I'm crazy to say that what Emery did last night was assault and battery, read the definition: Assault and battery is the combination of two violent crimes: assault (the threat of violence) and battery (physical violence). This legal distinction exists only in jurisdictions that distinguish assault as threatened violence rather than actual violence. I'm pretty sure that sums up everything Emery did last night. Now tell me why it would be silly or unnecessary for Holtby to press charges. If the league won't suspend a player who broke the law, not the NHL rules, but the law then I feel that Holtby SHOULD take matters into his own hands. He won't because he's better than that but it would send a message to Emery, the Flyers, and the league that this kind of behavior won't be tolerated.

**SportsNutNY; I have this one, I'll tell you why...... Maybe because if he was, then the NHL would be a prison league! I would need a calculator to count all the assaults i seen in hockey over last few years. So slamming someones head into the glass or boards with a flying elbow is not assault? Cross checking a defenseless player head first into boards is not assault? Two handed slashes with what could be considered a weapon if any of us used it on someone out on the street, is that also assault? Or is skating down the ice to fight someone who is suppose to be a hockey player and knows these things happen to every player now and then even Sidney fights back, the only thing that was pathetic about all that was was that Holtby is a coward. I kind of remember Brian Boyle getting jumped and pummeled by Carkner in Playoffs last year. He did not want to fight either, so he took a beating Carkner should be in jail yes? If anyone here can't remember seeing things 10 times worse then that at least once a week really needs a reality check. Lets all remember only 1 player on there team through the years that has not done something worse then that joke last night. Holtby was hit in back of head as he cowered. Yes it was pathetic display, but nothing new. Better back of head then his face like Vincent and Brian got broken bones.

**mwoolford101; Let Philly and their media rot like the trash they are. I'd rather focus on a 7-0 win, a scoring assault by Backstrom, Chimera, Grabo, and Brouwer, an all around solid defensive game, and Joel Ward's first NHL hatter. WAY TO GO WARDO!!!

**PlayedTheGame; I'm glad this happened while John Scott was suspended: now he has time to study the videos and re-design his game according the rulebook. Pounding a defenseless opponent unwilling to fight at the back of the head will not warrant a suspension. Every fight is sacred, every fight is good.

**wings_131; just saw the whole fight. i have lost complete respect for emery. that was just a disgrace. and i can't believe the refs let that happen. he just grabbed holtby and started throwing punches. i get that the flyers would be frustrated and would want to start some fights but emery making the effort to skate all the way to the other end of the rink just to beat up a goalie that obviously outplayed him and his entire team is not right at all. i'm hoping that a suspension of a fine is coming up. and why the h.ell is he this third star? just cuz he grabbed holtby from behind? philly media is just stupid. next time i hope the caps win 10-0

**HatTrickSwayze1; What a pathetic human being. That was an absolute disgrace to the game of hockey. I can't believe some Philly fans are actually backing this guy. To the rest of you, I am sorry that your franchise is suffering through this right now.

**wings_13; totally agree with you. what a joke. the flyers management has been talking about taking less penalties and then this happens. they need to get rid of everyone at the top if they supported something like this.

**Equallizer; I like the flyers but what emery did i was uncalled for and careless. Challenge a goalie at center ice is one thing, skate the length of the ice and attack him for what? because he is a better goalie then you will ever be? This guy needs to be sent to the minors and never brought back up again. Disgrace to hockey.

**wings_13; if holtby has a concussion because of those cheap shots from emery he would be getting an in person hearing asap. good thing holtby wasn't injured but still i want emery held accountable for that. that was just everything the league is trying to get out of the game

**SportsNutNY; Some of the best fights were between goalies. Remember Billy Smith? I think Fighting is a unique aspect of hockey. It is an exciting aspect of hockey. There are few fights that are more entertaining than a goalie fight...

**SportsNutNY; Here go google this- dan cloutier fights tommy salo - YouTube Then tell me about how Emery should get banned for more then a few games. Tommy Salo? If he did not get beat down 10 x's worse then Holtby you all need to watch some real hockey when hits from behind, elbows to head, sticks to face were rare. Anyone would drop the gloves back in the day. Now it was replaced by cheap shots and dirty hits that far and away cause more long term injurys then a hockey fight. Thing is the justice for going after a star player or non fighter was usually sitting on end of bench as a 4th liner. Now that this has been pretty much abandoned u see all the star players getting brave with the shields and the sticks!

**ThaBruins; Wow Emery, stay classy bud. What boggles my mind is that nobody pulled him off Holtby and took him on. I can understand him going after Holtby, but he kept feeding him despite Holtby being disinterested and then kept going after he'd gone down. Lost a lot of respect for Emery, but it looks as though he played such a GREAT game anyways that Holtby didn't really need to beat him in the fight anyways. Fire Holmgren. Please. The Flyers dont deserve this.

**Dietzson; A theory I haven't read is that the member of Philly media responsible for this third star is as ticked off about the direction the Flyers are going as many of their fans ... and sure as heck found a way to draw attention to it. What, there was another hockey fight ... so what else is new? Uh, you say a goalie who came in and did little except attack another goalie and get ejected earned the third star? Wow, there must be an interesting story behind that! Well, apparently there is.

**daveflyers35; The only problem I had with the brawl was Emery going after Holtby. He had no reason whatsoever to skate the length of the ice. The rest of the fights? All other teams have done it when losing big and when frustrated.

**VeggieTart; I don't have any issue with the other fights that were going on. Wilson and Simmonds agreed to to. Oleksy and Lecavalier agreed to go (although Lecavalier probably regrets this, as he got injured pretty badly). Urbom and Schenn agreed to go. Holtby did NOT want to fight, but Ray Emery didn't care--admits he didn't care--and just went after him. And the ref stood there and did nothing.

**PghPenguins3; I doubt that he will ever be on the Pens again. We are in a youth movement. I love Talbot and thank him for his time here especially Game 7. I'm pretty sure he's content right now too and will bring a lot of intensity to the Avs.

**claudehurdoo; Welp, that happened. Emery, get your act together. No need for that. The brawl wasn't really that bad, guess they were tired of getting whooped. Can't say I would have been very happy either. Caps played well.

**cjnuss; I like everything about what Philly did besides Emery he should of found a position player who wanted to go. Holtby has a shutout why would he want to fight in a 7-0 game if Emery wants to get the boys going make a save or fight a position player

**Jollygiant00; Emery picking a fight with an unwilling Holtby was weak. If the NHL cared about discipline Emery would be suspended for a long time after that. And that ref would be looking for a new job.

**shakespeare187; Philly has enough talent on their roster to be a good team, but as many other fans, hockey commentators and so on, have stated in the past, is that the top leadership needs to change. If emery (his name doesn't deserve to be capitalized) gets anything less than a 10 game suspension I'd be very surprised. Of course he and several other Flyers let their frustration get the better of them, but that does not excuse you from behaving like a simple thug. Hockey is better than this, and it's not fair towards the fans to allow this kind of behavior on the ice. And, the Flyers are not without two of their best players because of fighting... was it worth it emery?

**SupYuk; I dont think they have much talent. At the beginning of the season I thought these guys were gonna be the dark horse with Lecavlier and Streit being big off season signings. I used to think Giroux was among the elite. Now, I just think its a team of goons who just want to watch the NHL burn. Guys like Emery are the reason the NHL will eventually ban fighting, and then the Flyers will have to totally revamp their roster cause all the goons like Hartnell, Schenn, Simmonds, Downie will need a new job.

**shakespeare187; I totally agree with you, but if the Flyers had good management (coach and GM), I do believe they could bring some serious talent out of the current roster. I mean, Giroux, Hartnell, Schenn and Lecaviler have proven in the past that they know how to play, but there is simply no chemistry in that team. Not saying the Flyers have the talent of the following teams, but imagine if they had the leadership of teams as the Blues, Pens (hate or love; you've got to admire what Bylsma have done), Sharks, Hawks, Wings (got to include Holland and Babcock), and even Bruins. It all starts with leadership and the Flyers unfortunately have none of that right now.

**daveflyers35; 1975? That is all you have left? I can name teams that have gone longer or never even won. How about tanking on purpose to get the top pick how many times? Couldn't find a pens fan in the late 90's to early 2000's thousands resulting in almost losing the team to KC. How about 2011, your stanley cup favorited team completely being undressed and unraveled by whom?

**jalabar64; When one person unprovokedly attacks another person, that isn't a hockey fight, that isn't a goalie fight, that IS an assault. I often wonder why we allow crimes in sports that people would be arrested for in other occupations. The reality is that the Philly cops were derelict in not arresting Emery for premeditated assault, the referee was derelict for not stopping it before it started, by restraining Emery from ever starting fighting. The Philly media was incompetent for naming Emery a star and whoever was responsible should be fired. Lastly, if there is no supplemental discipline against Emery, and at last check the League says none is planed, then the NHL is a joke that SHOULD NOT be taken seriously. I plan to write to sponsors of the NHL, asking them to drop the sport that is no better than MMA. At least in MMA, punching a defenseless person repeatedly in the back of the head isn't allowed.