Flyers Fall to Capitals in Preseason Finale

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The results in the preseason may not mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but by the preseason finale, you start to see the roster that will likely start the season and hope to see the consistency building. The Flyers had some moments in the preseason finale, but still showed there is plenty to work on before the regular season begins.

The Flyers suffered a 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals in the preseason finale on Friday night, finishing with a 2-3-1 record in the preseason.

The Flyers controlled most of the early possession game with shots being few and far between. Shortly after the midpoint of the first period, the Capitals got a prolonged shift in the offensive zone and made the most of it.

The Flyers failed to clear, and with the puck in front of the net, Keith Yandle turned it over and Lars Eller was able to tap it into the net out of the reach of Justin Braun and Martin Jones to make it 1-0 Washington.

That was the lone tally of the first period, as the Capitals took a 12-6 lead in shots into the break.

Early in the second, Washington kept the pressure on and turned it into another goal. Off a face-off, John Carlson got the puck at the left circle and picked his spot, making it 2-0 Capitals at 4:54.

The Flyers finally got on the board just shy of the midpoint of regulation. A dominant shift by the top line came to an end with Claude Giroux scoring from in front to make it 2-1 at 9:25.

Just over a minute later, Cam Atkinson tied the game, picking his spot with a shot after stealing the puck at the Flyers blue line to make it 2-2.

Atkinson wasn't done, as he tallied again off another turnover late in the period. A drop pass by Evgeny Kuznetsov was left in open space for Atkinson to gain control. Atkinson fired a slap shot that hit off of Dmitry Orlov and fluttered by Ilya Samsonov to make it 3-2 with 1:40 left in the period.

Through two periods, the Capitals had a 22-20 lead in shots.

The Capitals got things rolling early in the third. They got their first power play of the game and made quick work of it, as Tom Wilson played a bank off the endboards and scored at 2:27 to tie the game at three.

Just 16 seconds later, Daniel Sprong scored, but a review for offside brought the goal back and kept the game tied.

The tie was still short-lived, as the Capitals struck again on a two-on-one at 4:02. Conor Sheary led the rush after a Ryan Ellis shot was blocked and fed Anthony Mantha for the one-timer and the goal to make it 4-3 Washington. 

The rest of the period featured a lot of physical play and heated gatherings, as both team had power-play chances. In the final minute, Washington iced the game with an empty-net goal from Nic Dowd.

Samsonov finished with 22 saves on 25 shots. Jones had 28 saves on 32 shots in the loss. 

Alex Ovechkin also left the game in the first period with an apparent injury. He did not return and will be re-evaluated over the weekend. 

Next up for the Flyers is the season opener, next Friday night on home ice against the Vancouver Canucks at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• WSH Lars Eller (1) (Unassisted) 11:11

2nd Period

• WSH John Carlson (3) (Martin Fehervary, Evgeny Kuznetsov) 4:54
• PHI Claude Giroux (2) (Sean Couturier) 9:25
• PHI Cam Atkinson (2) (Unassisted) 10:41
• PHI Atkinson (3) (Unassisted) 18:20

3rd Period

• WSH Tom Wilson (2) PP (Justin Schultz, Kuznetsov) 2:27
• WSH Anthony Mantha (2) (Conor Sheary) 4:02
• WSH Nic Dowd (1) EN (Eller) 19:03

Game Statistics