WASHINGTON (Map, News) - It was almost the perfect comeback.

In front of a frenzied sellout crowd at Verizon Center on Tuesday night, the Capitals were one win away from making history against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Unfortunately, it was just one game too many. For the second time in this best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal, the Caps were beaten in overtime.

This time the loss also put an end to their remarkable season. Flyers forward Joffrey Lupul scored the game-winning goal at six minutes, 6 seconds into overtime to lift Philadelphia to a deciding Game 7 victory, 3-2.

The Flyers took advantage of an early power play in overtime thanks to a trip on Caps defenseman Tom Poti. Philadelphia defenseman Kimmo Timonen pounced on a loose puck and fired a shot on Caps goalie Cristobal Huet. Lupul was in front of the net to backhand the rebound past Huet, ending the game and the series. The Flyers advance to face No. 1 seed Montreal in the second round.

The Caps had rebounded from a 3-1 series deficit with wins in Game 5 in Washington and Game 6 in Philadelphia on Monday. But three in a row was too much to ask from a team that had spent its entire season overcoming long odds — first to even reach the postseason and then to force a deciding game against the Flyers. Only 20 teams in NHL history have overcome a 3-1 deficit out of 223 series.

Caps rookie center Nicklas Backstrom opened the scoring with a power-play goal at 5:42 of the first period, his fourth of the series. But Philadelphia regained the lead on a goal by Scottie Upshall and a controversial second-period tally by Sami Kapanen. That one came after Patrick Thoresen knocked Caps defenseman Shaone Morrisonn into Huet, leaving Kapanen alone to deposit a shot into the open net.

Later in the period, Caps left wing Alex Ovechkin ripped a shot past Flyers goalie Martin Biron (39 saves) to tie the score at 2-2. Both teams had plenty of chances throughout the third period and early in overtime before Lupul finally converted. The Caps outshot the Flyers 41-34.