We had our choice of celebratory photographs to accompany this post; obviously, this tends to happen when the Capitals score eight times. The four men pictured — from left, Nicklas Backstrom, Dave Steckel, Mike Green and Alexander Semin — had 12 combined points. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Capitals 8, Flyers 2: So much for those questions about whether or not the Capitals have the offensive skills to cope without Alexander Ovechkin. The Capitals unleashed a furious attack last night, putting eight past Brian Boucher and Robert Emery, and ruining Peter Laviolette’s debut behind the bench for the Flyers. Laviolette’s first game in charge might just be rock bottom for preseason darlings Philadelphia, who came into the game losers in seven of their last eight. They couldn’t have handpicked a worse opponent than the Caps to break in a new head coach — despite splitting two previous meetings this season, Washington had to know they could score on the Flyers. (After Saturday’s goalfest, Washington is now averaging a gaudy 5.33 goals per game against the Flyers this season.) Individual highlights were plentiful, as one would expect from an eight-goal outburst. Of note: an astounding 26.7 shooting percentage, four power play goals (including two in less than minute after the Flyers’ Dan Carcillo got punch happy at center ice and was ejected), the impressive contributions of defensemen Mike Green (two goals) and the returning Tom Poti (two assists and a team leading 21:43 on the ice), and Nicklas Backstrom’s five-point first-star performance. The Capitals now trail San Jose by only one point for the league standings perch with a game in hand — they also overtook the Sharks as the NHL’s most potent offensive team.