FLYERS WASTE STRONG START IN 5-3 LOSS TO CAPS
The Philadelphia Flyers enjoyed a strong first period but a combination of inattentive lapses, mediocre goaltending and an all-too-familiar inability to kill penalties doomed them to a 5-3 road loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night. The Flyers took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission -- it easily could have been 3-0 or 4-0-- but watched it evaporate early in the second period.
The Capitals went 2-for-3 on the power play, while the Flyers were unable to score on their lone power play and gave up a prime shorthanded scoring chance in the process.
Chandler Stephenson (3rd and 4th goals of the season) turned the tide early in the second period with goals spaced just 47 seconds apart. Andre Burakovsky (power play, 4th), T.J. Oshie (power play, 12th) and Devante Smith-Pelly (7th) also scored for Washington. Lars Eller (14th and 15th assists of the season), John Carlson (32nd and 33rd assists), Madison Bowey (12th assist) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (33rd assist) picked up assists.
Braden Holtby made some key saves for the Capitals, including two excellent stops on Claude Giroux and a 2-on-1 save in the first period, to earn the win. He finished with 27 saves on 30 shots.
Nolan Patrick (4th goal of the season), Travis Konecny (11th) and Jakub Voracek (10th) scored for the Flyers. Wayne Simmonds (14th assist of the season), Sean Couturier (24th assist), Ivan Provorov (16th assist) and Patrick (7th assist; 1st NHL multi-point game) picked up assists.
Michal Neuvirth, for the second straight start, came up small in goal for the Flyers. He was his own worst enemy on two goals and, on other chances, was in less-than-ideal position. There were few more-than-routine stops among the 15 saves he made on 20 shots. Alex Lyon came in at 9:06 of the third period and made his NHL debut. The Yale University product stopped all five shots he faced.
Wednesday's game was a particularly rough one for Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning. He went off on an ill-timed line change at the start of the sequence that ended in Washington's second goal. He lost a positional battle to Andre Burakovsky on the power play goal that gave New Jersey a 3-2 lead. Rookie Flyers defenseman Robert Hà¤gg and veteran forward Valtteri Filppula and his line also had a tough night.
The Flyers return to action on Thursday; a crucial head-to-head meeting with the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center in Newark.
1ST PERIOD SYNOPSIS
At just 1:18 of the first period, the new second line broke out on a 2-on-1 after Voracek chipped the puck up the wall. In the offensive zone, Patrick took a tape-to-tape pass from Simmonds, put a shift on Holtby and chipped a backhander home upstairs for a 1-0 lead.
Matt Niskanen pinched in and took a pass in the right circle. The chance was snuffed out as Ivan Provorov blocked the shot at 3:57.
Neuvirth stopped a 3-on-2 backhanded chance for Brett Connolly near the left post at 4:55. Valtteri Filppula proved backchecking support on the play.
At 6:04, the Flyers broke out on another 2-on-1 as Niskanen was caught pinching. Travis Konecny took a feed from Sean Couturier and tried to chip the puck upstars but Holtby snagged it with the glove to keep the game at 1-0.
Tom Wilson tipped a puck on net as Madison Bowey put in on net from the right circle off a cross-ice pass from Ovechkin. Neuvirth made the save. After play resumed, Ovechkin beat Robert Hà¤gg on an outside-inside move and created a chance in front.
The Flyers grabbed a 2-0 lead at 7:50. Couturier took the puck to the net, and defenseman Christian Djoos ended up crashing into Holtby. The rebound went directly to Konecny on the right side of the net. He slid it into the open side of the cage to extend his goal streak to five straight games. Couturier got the assist.
Brandon Manning and Radko Gudas blocked shot attempts on the same shift. Shots on goal were 8-3 Flyers through 12 minutes. With 5:40 left, Neuvirth fought off a Djoos shot through traffic.
Gostisbehere broke his stick on one-timer attempt with about 5:15 left.
The Capitals went to the game's first power play at 15:44 after Ovechkin forced a Filppula turnover on the side boards and Hà¤gg was called for hooking Wilson in a positional battle in front. T.J. Oshie was thwarted by a Filppula stick check in front of the net. Giroux came up with a clear after a Couturier shot block. Provorov won a 50-50 battle in the corner and came up with another clear. The Flyers survived the penalty.
With 1:35 left, after Washington pressured in the Flyers zone, the Flyers took an icing. The Flyers controlled the draw but Voracek went offside on the rush.
First period shots were 11-6 in the Flyers favor.
2ND PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Caps cut the deficit to 2-1 at 2:14. Eller won a puck race to beat an icing and threw the puck on net from the corner. An inattentive Neuvirth awkwardly stopped it with his pads but Stephenson poked home the uncovered rebound. Eller and Carlson got the rebounds.
On the next shift, Stephenson caught the Flyers on a bad line change, got a breakaway off a pass from Bowey, put on a shift and scored on a backhander through the five-hole. Assists went to Bowey as the Caps tied the game at 3:01.
After the Capitals got sloppy, the Flyers countered. Holtby made back-to-back tough stops on Konecny and Giroux to keep the game 2-2 near the six-minute mark.
At 8:30, forechecking pressure from Couturier forced a Caps turnover in front. Holtby stopped a Giroux blast from the right circle. The Laughton line came out and kept up the pressure on the next shift.
The Flyers got their first power play at 9:48. On a give-and-go sequence, Lehterठwas taken down by Carlson in the attacking zone. The Caps had a good shorthanded chance as Eller gained the blue line and fed over to Tom Wilson; the puck went just wide. Provorov generated a point blast that Holtby handled easily with no screen in front. Voracek hit the post on the waning seconds.
MacDonald was called for slashing Ovechkin in the defensive zone at 12:24. The Caps went their second power play. Provorov blocked a shot by Evgeny Kuznetsov. Neuvirth made a routine save on Nicklas Bà¤ckström. But the Caps scored shortly after the ensuing faceoff. Burakovsky got body position on Manning in front and, with Neuvirth deep in his net, re-directed home a feed in front by Eller for a 3-2 Capitals lead at 14:32.
Second period shots were 12-10 Flyers (23-17 Flyers overall).
3RD PERIOD SYNOPSIS
The Couturier line established a strong forecheck on the first shift of the period.
Wilson felt Patrick's stick under his arm in a board battle, held onto it and swan dived to the ice. He was rewarded with a hooking penalty on Patrick and the Caps' third power play at 4:16. Hà¤gg lost his stick. Oshie, stationed in the lower right circle, took a pass and ripped home a one-timer for a 4-2 lead at 5:28. Assists to Kuznetsov and Carlson.
Holtby made an aggressive pokecheck to break up a Flyers chance. Neuvirth fought off a Wilson shot from the right circle and then covered the rebound in the crease at 7:30. After Wilson barreled over Manning, Ovechkin missed the net on a one-timer from the left side with half an open net staring at him.
The Caps opened a 5-2 lead at 9:06 with a goal off the rush and side-to-side puck movement. A Djoos shot from the right circle deflected into the net off the skate of Smith-Pelley.
Alex Lyon entered the game in relief before play resumed. His first NHL shot and save was a routine Connolly shot from the top of the right circle.
After taking exception to a bit of a leg-whip on a hit in the defensive corner, Manning dropped the gloves at center ice with Chiasson at 10:02.
Provorov got a goal back at 10:40. Patrick fed the puck to the point and Voracek set up a screen in front. The shot deflected in off the shaft of Voracek's stick as the Flyers cut the cap to 5-3.
Lyon stopped Ovechkin from the left circle and then found the rebound to keep the Flyers deficit at two goals. A puck bounced over Ovechkin's stick in front of the net after play resumed.
The Flyers pulled Lyon for a 6-on-5 with 3 minutes left. Provorov harassed Wilson just enough to prevent an empty net goal. A Giroux blast rimmed out of the offensive zone. The Caps took an icing with 40.7 seconds left. The Flyers called timeout. No scoring chance developed.
The Caps iced the puck again with 18.6 seconds left. The Flyers lost the draw but eventually got it back. However, time expired after a long scrum along the boards.
Third period shots were 8-7 in Washington's favor (30-25 overall for the Flyers).