The couple of days off after a four-game road trip and immediate turnaround in their home opener didn’t solve any of the Flyers‘ early-season struggles. The Flyers, who watched a potential playoff appearance slip away after losing nine of their final 11 games in 2023-24, including an eight-game losing streak, saw another losing streak to start the 2024-25 season grow.
The Capitals scored a pair of shorthanded goals in the first and added two more in the third in a 4-1 loss for the Flyers, their fifth straight, on Tuesday night at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers got an early power play, but the Capitals turned that into the game’s first goal. Nic Dowd got a shorthanded breakaway off a turnover by Egor Zamula and scored to make it 1-0 at 3:49.
Back on the power play at 15:07, the Flyers allowed another shorthanded goal. This time, Andrew Mangiapane got a step and scored for his second goal of the season.
Through 20 minutes, shots were 10-10.
The Flyers killed off two penalties in the second period, helping to keep the margin at two, but another 20 minutes went by the wayside without any goals for the Flyers on home ice.
Through two periods, shots were 18-13 Washington.
The Flyers took just 34 seconds to get on the board in the third and for the first time on home ice in the 2024-25 season. Travis Sanheim fired a shot from the left circle to cut the lead to one.
Just over one minute later, any momentum the Flyers had was gone as Dylan Strome got a tip-in at the front of the net to make it a 3-1 game and restore the two-goal lead for Washington.
After the Flyers failed to score on their third power play of the game, the Capitals put the game away with 5:53 remaining. Jakob Chychrun scored from the point for his second goal of the season to make it 4-1.
Sam Ersson made 25 saves on 29 shots in the loss. Charlie Lindgren made 17 saves on 18 shots in the win.
Connor McMichael had two assists for the Capitals.
These two teams meet again on Wednesday night to complete the home-and-home in Washington at 7:30 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
| Capitals | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Flyers | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- WSH Nic Dowd (1) SH (Martin Fehervary) 3:49
- WSH Andrew Mangiapane (2) SH (Connor McMichael) 15:07
2nd Period
- No Scoring
3rd Period
- PHI Travis Sanheim (1) (Cam York, Matvei Michkov) 0:34
- WSH Dylan Strome (4) (John Carlson, McMichael) 1:38
- WSH Jakob Chychrun (2) (Brandon Duhaime, Jakub Vrana) 14:07
Game Statistics
| Capitals | Flyers | |
| Shots | 29 | 18 |
| Power Play | 0/5 | 0/3 |
| Hits | 20 | 23 |
| Faceoff % | 52.9% | 47.1% |
| Giveaways | 14 | 15 |
| Takeaways | 11 | 8 |
| Blocked Shots | 16 | 12 |
| Penalty Minutes | 13 | 17 |
