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Wrap: Caps 3 - Flyers 1; Quick Hits for March 8, 2021

March 8, 2021, 12:44 PM ET [86 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Wrap: Flyers Fade After Strong 1st Period, Lose 3-1 to Caps

Playing for the sixth time in nine nights, the Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Washington Capitals 3-1 at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday evening. The game marked the first time Flyers fans have been able to attend a home game since the NHL's COVID-19 pause implemented last March. The Flyers suffered their first set of back-to-back regulation losses since early January 2020.

The Flyers controlled the first period but only scored a single goal. Washington pushed back in the second period and the Flyers were forced to chase the game in the third. Philly wasn't lacking for scoring chances but the team was unable to bury them and, as in the recent games in Pittsburgh, Flyers' breakdowns proved very costly.

Joel Farabee (11th goal of the season) got the Flyers on the board first in the opening period. Goals by Alex Ovechkin (8th) and one by Dmitry Orlov (2nd) in the final 16 seconds of the middle frame put the Capitals ahead, 2-1. Nick Jensen added an insurance goal (1st) early in the third period.

Carter Hart stopped 24 of 27 shots in a losing cause. Ilya Samsonov earned the win with 36 saves on 37 shots.

The Flyers needed to get the game to the second intermission tied at 1-1. Instead, after an icing, a lost faceoff and poor coverage (Farabee lost and assigment and wingers JVR and Farabee both were on the right side up high) resulted in Orlov scoring on Hart through the five-hole as the goalie moved across to cover the back-door chance. Hart's reaction made clear the goalie himself felt it was stoppable despite the breakdowns around him.

Phil Myers returned from a one-game injury absence for the Flyers, while Erik Gustafsson replaced Robert Hägg in the starting lineup. With Michael Raffl unavailable due to an upper-body injury, Connor Bunnaman rejoined the lineup. For Washington, right winger Tom Wilson served the first game of a seven-game NHL suspension for a hit that injured Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo.

For more on the game, see the Postgame 5 on the Flyers' official website.

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Quick Hits: March 8, 2021

1) Through the end of January, the Flyers played 10 games. They were 7-2-1 in that span, averaging 3.50 goals per game (outscoring their mistakes, essentially) against a 3.00 team goals against average. They were 8-for-31 on the power play (25.8 percent), 28-for-37 on the PK (75.7 percent), and 51.4 percent on faceoffs. The team averaged just 23.6 shots per game while allowing an average of 33.7 shots on goal per game.

Since that time, the Flyers have played 12 games. The team is 5-5-2 over that span. The club has averaged 3.00 goals per game against a 3.08 team goals against average. The power play is 6-for-47 (12.8 percent), while PK is just 24-for-35 (68.6 percent). The team has won 55.1 percent of its faceoffs. The team has averaged 30.4 shots on goal per game and allowed an average of 29.3 shots per game.

Oddly enough, there are aspects of the process that have actually been significantly better in recent weeks, particularly in terms of establishing a forecheck and generating shots. But they've been less opportunistic in the last few weeks, and special teams letdowns (on both the PK and the PP) have turned winnable games into losses.

2) Coming off a 4-1 loss to the Hershey Bears on Saturday, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (5-2-2) return to action on Monday night. The team is on the road to take on the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins (5-2-2).

3) March 8 Flyers Alumni birthdays: Brent Fedyk (1967), Rob Zettler (1968).
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