The Philadelphia Flyers continued their three-game homestand Tuesday night as they took on Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. Dan Vladar got the start in net. Carl Grundstrom was inserted into the lineup, and Garnet Hathaway became a healthy scratch. They’d end their four-game losing streak with a four-two victory. Vladar made huge saves to keep his team in it all game long, and a late power play and empty-net goal helped seal the deal. The orange and black improved to 25-20-10 on the season.
The Capitals got the game’s first power play at the 2:55 mark of the first period as Nicolas Deslauriers got called for tripping. The Flyers were able to clear the puck down the ice a few times, and Vladar made a huge save on Dylan Strome. Three shots on net were recorded.
Owen Tippett gave the Flyers a 1-0 lead at the 5:56 mark of the first. Travis Sanheim made a nice pass to Tippett, who was at the right circle. Tippett then took the puck to the net and put a backhander past the right skate of Capitals goaltender Clay Stevenson. A nice pass by Matvei Michkov helped set the play up. Sanheim and Michkov tallied assists.
The Flyers went on their first power play at the 2:02 mark of the second period as Ovechkin was called for slashing. Stevenson made a save on Jamie Drysdale, and the Capitals did their job of clearing the puck when given the opportunity.
Carl Grundstrom made the score 2-0 in favor of the Flyers at the 4:45 mark of the second. His wrist shot from the left circle went off the ankle of Jakob Chychrun and past the glove of Stevenson. Deslauriers and Rasmus Ristolainen picked up assists.
Chychrun got called for holding at the 6:59 mark of the second period, which gave the Flyers their second power play. Trevor Zegras had a shot go off the post, and Noah Cates missed on a shot wide. Unfortunately, Aliaksei Protas scored a shorthanded goal to get the Capitals on the board. He went on a two-on-one with Anthony Beauvillier. He took a pass from Beauvillier and put a snapshot through the legs of Vladar from the right circle. Beauvillier received the lone assist. 2-1 Flyers.
The Capitals tied the game up at two at the 2:40 mark of the third period courtesy of Beauvillier. Vladar made the initial save on Trevor vanRiemsdyk but allowed a rebound. Beauvillier got to the rebound and put a wrist shot past the right pad of Vladar. The puck touched Justin Sourdif before it made its way to Beauvillier. Sourdif and vanRiemsdyk were given assists.
The Flyers went on their third power play at the 14:13 mark of the third as Sourdif was called for hooking. They capitalized on this opportunity thanks to Drysdale. He took a pass from Zegras and put a slapshot under the glove of Stevenson from the blue line. 3-2 Flyers. Assists went to Zegras and Travis Konecny.
Stevenson was pulled with 1:52 remaining in the third period in favor of the extra attacker with the Capitals down by one. It backfired, however, as Ristolainen scored an empty-netter at the 19:43 mark. He put a wrist shot from his side of the ice all the way down into the empty net. Konecny tallied the lone assist. This gave the Flyers a 4-2 lead.
Flyers went one for three on the power play and killed off the only Capitals man-advantage.
Vladar saved 26 of 28 shots, giving him a .929 save percentage.
Goal Summary
1st Period:
Tippett (19) Assists: Sanheim (18), Michkov (16)
2nd Period:
Grundstrom (8) Assists: Deslauriers (1), Ristolainen (5)
Protas (19) (Shorthanded) Assists: Beauvillier (8)
3rd Period:
Beauvillier (12) Assists: Sourdif (14), van Riemsdyk (6)
Drysdale (4) (Power Play) Assists: Zegras (28), Konecny (31)
Ristolainen (1) (Empty Net) Assists: Konecny (32)
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Thursday, Feb. 5, in Philadelphia against the Ottawa Senators.
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