Hathaway’s 2 Late Goals Stun Flyers in 4th Straight Loss

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

The Flyers took the lead with 3:51 to play in the third period of Thursday's game against the Washington Capitals. It seemed to be a deserved result for a team that largely held a top-tier team in Washington in check for most of the night. 

Then, just as they have many times this season, they found a way to lose. A pair of goals by Garnet Hathaway separated by 1:45 turned the 3-2 lead into a 4-3 deficit with 1:12 remaining. An empty-net goal sealed the deal in the Flyers fourth straight loss.

The Flyers had an early power play, but could not score as both teams traded occasional chances in a mostly quiet first period.

With 1:25 remaining in the opening period, the Capitals broke the ice. Michal Kempny took a shot from the blue line that beat Martin Jones. It was his first goal of the season and first in 61 games. 

Through one period, shots were 11-8 Flyers.

The Flyers opened the second period with the better of the play. A big hit by Scott Laughton on Kempny led to a fight between Laughton and Trevor van Riemsdyk at 7:37. van Riemsdyk was given an extra penalty for instigation, and the Flyers got their second power play.

This time, they cashed in, as Gerry Mayhew completed the nice passing play from Oskar Lindblom to even things up at one with his fourth goal of the season.

In the minutes that followed, the Capitals got a 45-second two-man advantage. While they did not score on the 5-on-3, they did re-gain the lead during the second power play. Joe Snively stayed with his chance and put home the rebound for his fourth goal of the season at 12:49. 

With just under a minute to play in the period, the Flyers got it tied again. Travis Konecny set up Travis Sanheim off the rush for his fourth goal of the season with 58.4 seconds left in the period.

Through 40 minutes, shots were 23-14 Flyers.

Just under eight minutes into the third, the Flyers went to the power play and quickly got a two-man advantage just 21 seconds later. They were not able to score on the 5-on-3.

But with 3:51 to go in the third, Mayhew struck again for his second goal of the game, giving the Flyers a 3-2 lead. Suddenly the Flyers were in position to claim a victory.

Just 54 seconds later, Hathaway scored on a deflection off a turnover to even things up at three again.

Just when it seemed like overtime was coming, Hathaway scored again to give Washington the 4-3 lead with 1:12 remaining. It was his 10th goal of the season.

The Flyers pulled the goalie immediately off the ensuing face-off, only to have Washington ice the game 23 seconds later with an empty-net goal by John Carlson.

Ilya Samsonov made 30 saves on 33 shots in the win. Jones made 20 saves on 24 shots in the loss.

Hathaway finished with a three-point game, including the pair of goals. Nic Dowd and Carl Hagelin each had two assists. Carlson had a goal and an assist. In addition to Mayhew's two-point game, Sanheim had a goal and an assist.

Box Score

Scoring Summary

1st Period

• WSH Michal Kempny (1) (Nic Dowd, Garnet Hathaway) 18:35

2nd Period

• PHI Gerry Mayhew (4) PP (Oskar Lindblom, Isaac Ratcliffe) 8:54
• WSH Joe Snively (4) PP (Dmitry Orlov, Conor Sheary) 12:49
• PHI Travis Sanheim (4) (Travis Konecny, Claude Giroux) 19:01

3rd Period

• PHI Mayhew (5) (Sanheim, Ivan Provorov) 16:09
• WSH Garnet Hathaway (9) (John Carlson, Carl Hagelin) 17:03
• WSH Hathaway (10) (Hagelin) 18:48
• WSH Carlson (10) EN (Dowd) 19:11

Game Statistics