The Philadelphia Flyers returned to action Wednesday night after a two-week-long Olympic break and started up a set of back-to-back games. They faced off against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena. Dan Vladar got the start in net, and there were no changes to the lineup. The Flyers missed out on very valuable points as they would lose three-one. They had their chances throughout the game, and Vladar kept them in it. This isn’t the return the Flyers needed. The orange and black dropped to 25-21-11 on the season.
The Flyers got the game’s first power play at the 9:43 mark of the first period as Ovechkin was called for hooking. They had a chance from in tight, but the puck went just wide. They’d start the night zero for one. No shots on net were recorded.
Rasmus Sandin gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at the 13:52 mark of the second period. Hendrix Lapierre, from the side of the net, found Sandin at the left circle, and he put a snapshot past the blocker of Vladar. Lapierre and Jakob Chychrun tallied assists.
Noah Cates tied the game up at one for the Flyers just 29 seconds into the third period. He deflected Travis Sanheim’s shot from the blue line through the legs of Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson. Sanheim and Bobby Brink picked up assists.
The Capitals got their first power play at the 3:46 mark of the third as Cam York got called for holding. Vladar made a huge save on Dylan Strome, and the Flyers were able to clear the puck down the ice multiple times.
Trevor van Riemsdyk gave the Capitals a 2-1 lead at the 14:08 mark of the third period. Declan Chisholm’s pass went off of Sanheim and straight to van Riemsdyk. van Riemsdyk then put a snapshot over the glove of Vladar. Chisholm and Aliaksei Protas were given assists.
Vladar was pulled with 2:41 remaining in the third in favor of the extra attacker with the Flyers down by one. They’d get their second power play with 48 seconds remaining as Nic Dowd was called for delay of the game (puck over glass). They’d go six-on-four, but it ultimately backfired. Travis Konecny tried to send the puck around the boards, and Matvei Michkov couldn’t catch up. Protas then put a snapshot into the empty net from center ice. The goal was unassisted. This gave the Capitals a 3-1 lead.
Flyers went zero for two 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:
No goals
2nd Period:
Sandin (3) Assists: Lapierre (8), Chychrun (26)
3rd Period:
Cates (11) Assists: Sanheim (19), Brink (12)
van Riemsdyk (2) Assists: Chisholm (4), Protas (20)
Protas (20) (Empty Net) Assists: none
Flyers Next Game
Flyers next game is Thursday, Feb. 26, in New York against the Rangers.
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