Photo Credits: FNG’s Rob Windfelder
The Flyers were back in action Wednesday night in the nation’s capital. It was their first game back after the extended Olympic break. The Capitals were four points ahead of the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division when the puck dropped.
The Flyers came out strong. The puck was in the Washington zone for much of the first half of the opening period. Many of the Flyers chances were from the perimeters but they were controlling the pace and the play.
The Flyers aggressive forecheck was beginning to frustrate the Capitals. Alex Ovechkin took a hooking penalty at 10:17 giving the Flyers their first man advantage of the night. The Flyers had a 7-1 shot advantage at that point.
Momentum
The Philadelphia power-play basically shut down their offensive game. The did not register a shot, in fact they did not manage another shot on goal until the final minute of the period.
Dan Vladar was in net for the Flyers and made some strong saves in the 2nd half of the 1st period including shutting Ovechkin down point blank. Vladar keeps the Flyers competitive, he has been a major factor all season long.
Both teams looked speedy and well rested, yet neither looked particularly effective. The Flyers created their best chances midway through the 2nd period. Caps goaltender Logan Thompson proved up to the challenge.
Rasmus Sandin fired the puck over a sprawling Dan Vladar with 6:08 left in the middle period. Vladar protested interference but it appeared to be his own defenseman that made contact with him.
3rd Period
The Flyers erased the Caps one goal lead just 29 seconds into the 3rd period. Noah Cates redirected a Travis Sanheim point shot to tie the game at one.
Prolonged pressure in the Flyers end culminated with Trevor van Reimsdyk going bar down from the top of the crease with 5:52 left in regulation. (We’ve all seen his brother James practice that shot a million times).
Dan Vladar had a huge save on Beauvillier with 4:07 remaining denying Washington the insurance goal and keeping his team in this game.
The Flyers pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker at 2:48. They were keeping the Caps away from the empty net but could not seem to pull off a clean entry. The Flyers got their 2nd power-play of the game with just 48.4 left on the clock.
An unsuccessful dump-and-chase attempt with a technical two man advantage in the Washington end turned into a Aliaksei Protas empty net goal with 26 seconds remaining. Final score 3-1 Caps.
It was a flat return for the Flyers who are right back at it again Thursday night in the Big Apple.
Extra Credit: Unfortunately the Flyers picked up right where they left off. They have lost 13 of their last 16 games. Over the holidays they were two points out of 1st place in the Metro. They never quite bounced back after that fantastic win against the Ducks in Philly. It’s been a tail spin ever since. They’ve had weeks to rest up and retool. …The trade deadline is next Friday.
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