Giroux, Atkinson Tally in Flyers Win Over Capitals

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

In the Flyers third preseason game, the shoe was on the other foot. After playing only a handful of players expected to make the NHL roster out of training camp, the Flyers unleashed what could be the whole thing on Saturday night.

The Flyers top power-play unit got on the board and some newcomers made contributions in a 3-1 win over the Washington Capitals.

An early power play for the Capitals led to the opening goal of the game. After holding the Capitals out of the zone for most of the man-advantage, they managed to get set up in the final 30 seconds and cashed in. A shot by Trevor van Riemsdyk was blocked in the high slot and landed for Aliaksei Protas to quickly fire it home to make it 1-0 at 3:18.

The Flyers got a power play just under two minutes later and took advantage. Off a great keep at the blue line by Keith Yandle, the Flyers quickly moved the puck and Sean Couturier set up Claude Giroux for a one-timer that beat Ilya Samsonov and tied the game at one.

The Flyers had two more power plays in the period, but could not score. Through 20 minutes, shots were 14-8 Flyers.

The Flyers got off to a good start in the second, generating chances and controlling the possession game. A prolonged shift for the top line in the offensive zone ended when Travis Konecny took a cross-checking penalty.

Washington was unable to score, but did get a bit of a push as a result. The Flyers started to turn the play back in their favor late in the period.

With 2:54 to play in the second, a partial power outage forced a delay and an early intermission. The teams exited for the locker rooms as the issue was addressed. The remaining time from the second was added to the third.

After completing the remaining second-period time, the Flyers capitalized early in the third. Two minutes into the period, a point shot by Rasmus Ristolainen left a big rebound. Oskar Lindblom gained control and centered it for Cam Atkinson with a wide-open net to make it 2-1 Flyers.

The rest of the third period was a chippy affair, as multiple gatherings after whistles commenced. Space started to become limited in the later stages of the third as well.

The Flyers put the result away late, as Scott Laughton took a lead pass from Nicolas Aube-Kubel and scored on a breakaway to make it 3-1 with 3:04 to play.

Martin Jones finished the game with 21 saves on 22 shots. Samsonov made 28 saves on 31 shots.

The Flyers are back on home ice on Monday night to take on the Boston Bruins in their next preseason game at 7 p.m.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• WSH Alieksei Protas (1) PP (Trevor van Riemsdyk, Michael Sgarbossa) 3:18
• PHI Claude Giroux (1) PP (Sean Couturier, Keith Yandle) 5:41

2nd Period

• No Scoring

3rd Period

• PHI Cam Atkinson (1) (Oskar Lindblom, Rasmus Ristolainen) 2:00
• PHI Scott Laughton (1) (Nicolas Aube-Kubel) 16:56

Game Statistics