PHILADELPHIA -- Claude Giroux has put an early-season slump well behind him. Wholesale Flames Jerseys . 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. Calgary Flames Pro Shop . 1 Caroline Wozniacki and three-time champion Serena Williams cruised into the semifinals, while last years runner-up Vera Zvonareva succumbed to Aussie Samantha Stosur in Thursdays womens quarterfinal action at the U. Cheap Flames Jerseys . Mars announced Saturday that the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers will join him as part of his halftime show. Super Bowl halftime performers often have collaborators. https://www.cheapflames.com/ . Though the 26-year-old said he was able to participate, coach Dwane Casey kept Johnson out as a precaution.Pakistan will aim to consign their comprehensive second Test defeat to the bin when they take on England in the third Test at Edgbaston, from Wednesday. Ahead of the clash, live on Sky Sports 2 from 10am, Saj Sadiq caught up with Sarfraz Ahmed to get his thoughts on how the tourists hope to hit back, why Younis Khan remains an inspiration, the teams strategy against Moeen Ali plus more…What do you feel were the main reasons for the heavy defeat in the second Test at Old Trafford?Sarfraz: To start with, we must give credit to England for playing some excellent cricket which resulted in that victory for them. We also made some mistakes in the game which we need to rectify in the coming days before the next Test match at Edgbaston. We intend to study those mistakes during our practice sessions and then not make them again. Watch how England wrapped up victory over Pakistan inside four days What mistakes do you feel Pakistan made at Old Trafford?Sarfraz: Although the pitch had some help for our bowlers, we were unable to bowl in the same manner we did against England at Lords. Also, we have to understand that in English conditions, any team batting first and putting up a reasonable score automatically gets the upper hand in the game.Also, the fact is that we failed to click in both batting and bowling departments. This is unlike how our batting, bowling and even fielding came good at the Lords Test not too long ago. However, as I said, we will work on fixing these problems and make a strong comeback in this series to make it 2-1 in our favour.Do you agree that Pakistans current Test team structure seems to be geared towards batting first?Sarfraz: This is not the case in my view. Our Test team has been performing very well for the past four or five years and that is also reflected in our current high ranking. We have won games in the past with our batting and bowling with a similar combination. Not only has our batting succeeded in the past but our bowling has defended totals very well in the past as well. Who is the press-up king? Misbah-ul-Haq, a few golf marshalls or David Lloyd? It seemed like the Pakistan teams morale looked a little low during the second Test compared to how they looked during the Lords Test?Sarfraz: When things are going well for you as a team then the morale is naturally high. But when the opposition puts on close to six hundred runs then any team will feel a little low. To be honest, the team was still trying its best even in the face of such a high first-innings total but unfortunately things did not go our way and really we must give credit to the England team for their performance.How difficult is it for any team to recover from such a comprehensive defeat?Sarfraz: It is always tough to make a comeback after a defeat of the kind we suffered recently. What I will say is that we have put in a lot of hard work and preparation for this tour with a boot camp as well as a training camp in Lahore. I am confident that after a short break between the Test matches, we have the ability and will make a comeback in this series, God Willing. Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq praised the performances of Cook and Root What sort of changes do you feel can Pakistan make to their strategy for the third Test?Sarfraz: We will consider all options once we get close to the third Test and have had a look at the conditions at Edgbaston. As far as minor technical changes are concerned, these are always possible during series as we deem fit.Of course major technical issues cannot be resolved during the ongoing series. Like I said, we will consider what changes need to be done once we have reached Birmingham and have had a sight of the pitch.How much of a concern is the dip in form for Younis Khan for the Pakistan team?Sarfraz: Younis Khan is one of our main players without doubt. Apart from Younis, we have been winning with the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq for the past few years and we cannot write off any of these players based upon a few bad innings. Custom Calgary Flames Jerseys. Younis Khan holes out off Moeen Alis bowling at Old Trafford Younis Khan not only works hard on his fitness and in the nets, he is also a great source of inspiration and strength for the team. I am convinced that he will make a comeback just like in the past when hes come through for Pakistan with a big innings when his team needed it most.Are you concerned about some of the criticism aired on television by former players who were conspicuously quiet when Pakistan won at Lords?Sarfraz: We have to understand that all of these ex-players have served our country with honour in the past. They are simply pointing out some of our failings and we must not take that to heart as this will not be to our benefit.We have to take such thoughts in a positive manner and not take them negatively. If we consider such advice in a negative light, then that will sit at the back of our minds and hinder our progress. The ex-players are speaking from their experience and it is up to us as players to note their advice and implement those recommendations. Sarfraz drops Jonny Bairstow on day two of the second Test How do you explain the fielding lapses in the Test series so far including some dropped catches by yourself?Sarfraz: There is always pressure on players when they are fielding in an international game but mistakes can be made by anyone. No one mis-fields or drops a catch deliberately. There are some issues such as the slopes in the field which we are not used to or windy conditions that cause deviation in the trajectory of the ball as well. This is another aspect that we are working on and you will see a better fielding display in the upcoming games.Is the display of attacking and aggressive batting against Moeen Ali a deliberate ploy?Sarfraz: Let me start by saying that we generally try and play in a positive manner and to score against balls which need to be put away. Now England are playing with four front-line bowlers and if one of the bowlers bowls a long spell then it is clear that he will not come on to bowl again for a little while. The Verdict panel discuss Moeen Ali’s form In such a situation, when Moeen Ali comes on to bowl, our batsmen will want to make use of this opportunity. Having said that, they arent attacking every delivery but playing each ball on its merit. Moeen Ali is no ordinary bowler as he did claim the wickets of some of our top batsmen at Old Trafford but I will stress that we did not in any way plan to hit every ball from Moeen; our strategy was the same as it was against all other bowlers.How do you rate Joe Root as a batsman?Sarfraz: We are all very impressed by Roots batting in both Test matches so far. He must be appreciated as some of his shots against good balls even put doubts in the minds of our bowlers. He is a batsman with an excellent technique and when he plays those shots, any bowler would feel demoralised. It was his batting in the second Test which made the difference and took the game away from us. Watch Joe Roots double century at Old Trafford How can Pakistan deal with Joe Root and Alastair Cook, as they appear to be the main threats?Sarfraz: This is foremost in our minds. These two are key batsmen for England and we will plan to take their wickets early so as to put pressure on the rest of the batting line-up. Rest assured that our coaching staff will be putting a lot of stress on this objective for the next games.In a recent interview with us, Inzamam-ul-Haq has said that there is no need to panic and that Pakistan can make a comeback. Do you agree with those sentiments?Sarfraz: I absolutely agree with what Inzi Bhai has said. There is no need to panic at all. The series stands at 1-1 and it is as competitive as it gets. The series began with a bang and from what we have seen so far, this is a tough fight. We are a strong side and our coaching staff are committed to helping the team respond well in the next two games. I am certain we will bounce back in the next two Tests.Watch live coverage of the third Test between England and Pakistan live on Sky Sports 2 on Wednesday from 10am. Also See: Root thanks Ramps Stokes misses Test England level series Sky Cricket Podcast ' ' '