Thursday night the Flyers played their third game of the pre-season against the Washington Capitals at the Giant Center in Hershey PA. The Flyers came into this game at 1-and-1, winning their first game against the Islanders in a shootout marathon. Then they were handled easily by the Canadiens in Montreal.
Again, this is pre-season hockey. The line-up is different every night. Teams are taking inventory to see how their prospects handle themselves. These are exhibition games and at this early stage you are obviously not looking at the opening night roster. So we’re not supposed to worry too much. Right?
Dan Vladar
We got our first look at goaltender Dan Vladar in a game situation with the Flyers. He had a solid showing in the first period stopping 8 of 9 shots. Vladar was beaten by Andrew Cristall at 8:11 on a Washington powerplay. Cristal faced little resistance as he ripped a laser from the slot. Vladar had little chance on that shot and definitely deserved better support.
The Flyers were also having trouble producing quality offensive chances. The Caps outshot the Flyers 9-5 in the opening period. The Flyers chances were from the perimeters and not much of a threat.
Vladar was on point, handled the puck well, and was called on to make a few challenging saves. Near the end of the period after a risky turnover by Jett Luchanko in the Washington zone Vladar faced Dylan Strome on a partial breakaway. Vladar made the stop and got his team to the first intermission down by a goal. He had a solid first start and that is the positive takeaway from tonight.
Quiet Sticks
The 2nd period started with Aleksei Kolosov between the pipes for the Flyers. Producing offense again appeared to be a struggle for the Flyers early in the middle period. They got their first shot on goal on the powerplay almost five minutes into the period. They created some chances on the man advantage but again, nothing dangerous.
ALL CAPS
Ivan Miroshnichenko made it 2-0 when he blew past Helge Grans along the left side boards. He cut across the slot and stuffed the puck passed Kolosov 9:10 into the period. Two minutes later Sonny Milano snuck a puck between the legs of the Flyers netminder to make it 3-0.
With 7:15 left in the period the Flyers went on a 41 second two man advantage. At this point in the period the Flyers had four shots on goal none of which had been registered at even strength. The Caps strung together a few nice scoring chances during the Flyers power-play.
Glimmer
The Flyers offense started to kick in towards the end of the period. Owen Tippett was denied by Caps goalie Clay Stevenson on a pair of quality attempts. Jacob Gaucher slapped in a rebound from the slot to put the Flyers on the board with 4:49 left in the period. It was an even strength goal the assists went to Abols and Ginning.
One Last Shot
Third period started off with the Flyers 4th man advantage of the game. Philly immediately lost control of the puck in the Washington zone sending the Caps in on a 2-on-0 short-handed rush. Kolosov had to position himself for the possible pass and Connor McMichael fired the puck high on the short side to make it 4-1 just 1:07 into the final period.
This game was not a fun watch for Flyers Fans. The team was lacking jump, watching pucks, and not moving their feet. The defensive holes were huge. Washington had a goal called back for a high stick, another not called at all because of a lack of video replay. The Caps bench was all smiles as they were running into difficulties while attempting to run up the score.
Sonny Milano made it 5-1 with just over a minute left in the game. The Flyers managed all of one shot on goal in the final period. They were outshot on the night 29-16.
“what, me worry”
We all know you can’t put too much weight on these pre-season match-ups. It’s not the final line-up, there’s a brand new coach and systems, and these games don’t even count. What’s concerning is this. It’s not Washington’s final product either. They were going through a similar process and getting very different results. It’s way too early to judge things, so let’s just say these last two low energy losses show that there’s lots of work to be done before October 9th.
Next Up: Flyers pre-season home opener against the Bruins Saturday 5:00 PM.
Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Store
Cool Matvei Michkov merchandise
About Author
