Postgame 5: Caps Down Flyers, 3-1

The Flyers lost to the Washington Capitals 3-1 in preseason action at the Wells Fargo Center on Wednesday evening. Dylan Strome paced the Capitals with two goals, while Connor Brown had a goal and an assist.

The first period was scoreless. Brown (1st goal of the preseason) gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 4:23 of the second period. A Dylan Strome power play marker (1st) at 7:42 extended the Washington lead to 2-0.
At 3:44 of the third period, Kevin Hayes (1st) brought the Flyers back within 2-1. A 2-on-0 breakaway resulted in Brown's second goal of the game.
Felix Sandström started the game in goal for the Flyers, playing the first 40 minutes. Samuel Ersson took over in the third period. Sandström stopped 13 of 15 shots while Ersson denied 11 of 12. Charlie Lindgren started for Washington, going the first two periods and stopping all 13 shots he faced. Zach Fucale finished the game, making 7 saves on 8 shots.
The Flyers went 0-for-1 on the power play. They were 2-for-3 on the penalty kill.
TURNING POINT
The Flyers seemed to be in good shape to move the puck up ice but lost the puck and paid the price on the sequence that led to Brown's goal that made it 1-0. The Flyers trailed the rest of the night.
MELTZER'S TAKE
1) The Capitals dressed a lineup consisting mostly of NHL role players and likely Hershey Bears' roster players. Shots were 7-2 Flyers until the latter stages of the opening period before Washington generated the final three shots on goal.
The Flyers had the two best scoring chances of the period, despite the Caps getting the frame's lone power play (a Travis Sanheim tripping minor on Marcus Johansson at 3:41). At the 11:51 mark, Tyson Foerster had open room on the short side on a give-and-go play with Kevin Hayes but was unable to hit the target. At roughly 14:30, Wade Allison had a golden opportunity on a sequence that started with crisp passes by Ivan Provorov and Olle Lycksell creating an attack with a clean entry and good speed.
2) It was a pretty physical first period with a combined 25 credited hits (15 for the Flyers, 10 for Washington). The two biggest hits were delivered by Rasmus Ristolainen on Henrik Rybinski at the 7:08 mark near the player benches at center ice and by former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton center Jordy Bellerive on Caps' defenseman Matt Irwin behind the Washington net at 16:57. Connor Brown registered three hits for Washington while Garnet Hathaway and Kale Kessey had two apiece.
The Flyers blocked eight shots in the first period including two by Nick Seeler (including a clutch block on the penalty kill) and a sliding block by Ristolainen. At the dot, the Flyers won eight of 13 faceoffs (62 percent) including Hayes going a perfect 4-for-4.
3) On the game's first goal, the Flyers lost a puck battle in their own zone and Caps pounced. Connor Brown fired the puck home through a partial screen off at 4:23. Bobby Nardella had the lone assist.
The Flyers unblemished (10-for-10) run on the penalty kill to start the preseason ended at 7:42 of the second period. After a Washington reload following a whiffed-on shot, Strome hammered a one-timer from the top of the right circle over Sandström's glove for a 2-0 lead. The assists went to Bobby Nardella and Marcus Johansson.
4) During the second period, Allison had his second prime scoring chance of the game but was stopped by Lindgren. The Flyers had their first power play opportunity of the game at 17:16 of the second period. Kale Kessey, no stranger to fisticuffs or the penalty box, sought out a fight with Nic Deslauriers. Kessey got the only penalty from the exchange (an unsportsmanlike conduct minor) after linesmen separated the two players.
The Caps had a 10-2 edge in shots in the second period until the latter part of the frame. The Flyers registered each of the final four attempts on net; kind of a reversal of the first period. Overall, the second period was rather disappointing from a Flyers' standpoint. They were outplayed and deserved to be trailing.
5) Allison took a hooking penalty at the 1:00 ,mark of the third period to disrupt ex-Flyer and Phantom Mike Vecchione. Ersson made four saves to keep the score at 2-0.
At 3:44, Hayes cut the deficit to 2-1. The Flyers had a 2-on-1 going after Allison's forechecking forced a turnover. Owen Tippett made a nice cross-ice pass to Hayes, who rifled the puck past Fucale from the right side.

At 16:20, the Flyers coughed up a 2-on-0 breakaway off a neutral zone miscue. A Strome-to-Brown-to-Strome give-and go left Ersson helpless and Strome finished it off to restore a two-goal margin.
The Flyers pulled Ersson for a 6-on-5 attack. There was no further scoring. Third period shots were 12-8 in Washington's favor.
After the game, there was a practice shootout. The Capitals went 1-for-3. The Flyers were 0-for-3.