Postgame RAV4: Flyers Fall Short Against Caps

The Philadelphia Flyers dropped a 5-2 decision to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Wednesday evening. The Flyers (3-8-4) have lost three games in a row (0-2-1) after their three-game winning streak. Philly is still winless against Metropolitan Division opposition.

Alex Tuch (8th goal of the season) put the Capitals ahead 1-0 in the opening two minutes of the game. Washington had early and late pushes. The Flyers carried the play in the middle stages. 

The middle frame got off to a good start for Philly. However, Washington increasingly asserted control.

Flyers captain Sean Couturier (1st) knotted the game on an early second-period deflection goal. Jordan Kyrou (PPG, 3rd) restored the Washington lead on their first power play of the game. Later, an Aliaksei Protas deflection goal (1st) opened a two-goal edge.

In addition to his goal, Couturier had three shots on net, three credited hits, and was 10-for-11 on faceoffs through two periods. 

In the middle stages of the third period, Matvei Michkov (PPG, 9th) brought the Flyers back within one goal. Kyrou (2nd of the game, 4th of the season) was in the right place to score off a friendly bounce. Tuch got his second tally of the game (9th of the season) on an empty-net goal.

Joseph Woll made 25 saves on 29 shots. Logan Thompson stopped 23 of 25 shots.

1ST PERIOD

Trevor Zegras had a backhand chance on the game's first shift. The Caps' Tom Wilson threw a big hit on the next. 

At 1:50, the red-hot Tuch fired a round past Woll for a quick 1-0 lead. The Cam York and Nick Seeler pairing, along with the Noah Cates line up front, was on the ice for the Flyers. The assists went to Dylan Strome and former Flyers draftee Jack St. Ivany.

Philly had four of the first seven shots through 5:12. On the next shift, Zegras nearly snuck a sharp-angle shot past Thompson. The Christian Dvorak line had a strong forechecking shift overall.

At 7:53, a forechecking Noel Acciari went off slowly after contact in the corner with Martin Fehervary. He did go up the tunnel under his own power.

Acciari returned to the Flyers' bench at the next stoppage. At 14:53, a side-angle shot from Ovechkin was bobbled by Woll. The goalie recovered to freeze the puck for a stoppage.

Shots: Flyers 11 - Capitals 12
Faceoffs: Flyers 9 - Capitals 7

2ND PERIOD

Cam York broke his stick. Dylan Strome nearly scored from close range after Jakob Chychrun got the puck to the net. Zegras helped prevent a goal.

Cates created the game's first power play -- Cole Hutson went for holding -- at 1:50. Philly failed to generate any shots or chances. With play back to full strength, Cates won a battle and fired off a shot from the right dot.

The Flyers' Couturier won a right circle faceoff. He went toward the net. Nick Seeler's point shot was deflected home by Couturier to tie the game at 4:36. Seeler drew the lone assist.

Tuch nearly netted his second goal of the game. Woll made a sprawling save. However, Zegras went off for slashing at 7:03 after Tuch worked past him on the play.

Washington made quick work of the power play. Kyrou ripped home a sharp-angle shot at 7:14. The assists went to Strome and Chychrun on the 11-second puck movement sequence.

Martone went off for a tripping minor on Wilson at 7:56. The Flyers killed this one off successfully.

At 12:18, York blocked an Anthony Beauvillier shot attempt out of play. It was an important block because the Flyers were a bit slow tracking back through the neutral zone.

Beauvillier landed a clean hit on Alex Bump. Jacob Gaucher went after Beauvillier. The Philly player got a double minor for roughing to a two-minute roughing penalty for Beauvillier at 12:45.

Woll stopped a Chychrun point shot with traffic off to the side. Woll cleared the puck after a Philly faceoff win. The Flyers completed the kill.

The Capitals expanded the lead to 3-1 at 16:47. A Matt Roy point shot was headed wide and was deflected into the net off Aliaksei Protas' glove. The second assist went to Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Shots: Flyers 4 (15 overall) - Capitals 8 (20 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 11 (21 overall) - Capitals 9 (16 overall)

3RD PERIOD

An early deflection attempt by Couturier changed direction but went wide of the net. Shots were 1-1 through 100 seconds.

Washington had five of the period's first seven shots on goal. Philly struggled to retrieve pucks. At 8:48, Denver Barkey attacked with speed and fired a dangerous shot on net.

Roy went off for roughing at 9:46. The Flyers' Zegras won the draw. Barkey made a great back-door feed to Michkov for a tap-in. The assists went to Barkey and Zegras at 9:44.

Roy barked at the officials as he left the box. He went right back for unsportsmanlike conduct at 9:44. The Flyers worked the perimeter. With 54 seconds left on the power play, Philly called a timeout. As the power play expired, Zegras had a golden scoring chance. Thompson made his toughest save of the game.

A point shot deflected in front and went directly to Kyrou at point-blank range. He scored again at 12:51. The assists went to Strome (third assist of the game) and St. Ivany.

Woll denied a Dubois breakaway. It was the Caps' ninth shot of the period to seven for Philly.

Philly went back to the power play at 15:07. He drew a roughing minor on Dubois. The Flyers pulled Woll for a 6-on-4. After the penalty expired, Knuble turned over the puck. Tuch scored into the empty net at 17:36, assisted by Dubois.

Shots: Flyers 10 (25 overall) - Capitals 10 (30 overall)
Faceoffs: Flyers 9 (30 overall) - Capitals 6 (22 overall)

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

Trevor Zegras - Christian Dvorak - Cole Knuble
Porter Martone - Noah Cates - Matvei Michkov
Alex Bump - Sean Couturier - Tyson Foerster
Denver Barkey - Jacob Gaucher - Noel Acciari

Travis Sanheim - Jamie Drysdale
Cam York - Nick Seeler
Hunter McDonald - Oliver Bonk

Joseph Woll
[Dan Vladar]

POSTGAME RAV4 (RAV 4 Things Revisited)

1. Zegras

Trevor Zegras came into the game red-hot offensively with a five-game point streak. He generated a pair of fine scoring chances in the first period. He made a key defensive play early in the middle frame. In the third period, he extended the streak to six straight games. Zegras won a power play draw. Moments later, he made a fine downhill play to start the scoring puck rotation.

2. Special Teams

The Flyers went 1-for-4 on the power play. They were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.

3. Play North

Philadelphia did this sporadically -- mostly in the first and third periods. It was better than the first period on Tuesday. However, it was still not sustained in the stretch of the game where a 1-1 tie became a 3-1 deficit.

4. Fatigue Factor

The Flyers' first period was an improvement on Tuesday's opening 20 against Columbus. However, Philly found itself playing from behind early in its third game in four nights. The second period was more of a grinding frame, and Washington went off with a two-goal lead. The Flyers were more resilient in the third period, but it was too little, too late.