Thursday night’s game at Wells Fargo Center was not a planned start for Sam Ersson. But when Carter Hart was announced as an inactive due to illness, it presented an opportunity for Ersson to make the bitter ending of Tuesday’s overtime loss in Nashville a distant memory.
Ersson accomplished just that, and in familiar fashion, with his third shootout win of the season. Ersson finished the game with 27 saves on 30 shots in regulation and added two more stops in the shootout, as the Flyers rallied for a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals.
The two teams skated through a scoreless 20 minutes to open the game with just 10 shots between the two. The Capitals had a 7-2 lead in shots, aided by two power-play opportunities. The Flyers also had an unsuccessful power-play attempt in the first.
Early in the second, the Flyers got the first goal. At 2:14, Bobby Brink scored his fifth goal of the season on a rebound, batting the puck out of the air and past Charlie Lindgren to make it 1-0.
The lead was short-lived, as just 46 seconds later, the Capitals tied the game with Connor McMichael scoring from alone in front for his sixth goal of the season.
Throughout the second period, both teams had power-play opportunities. The Flyers were unable to scored on two opportunities following the Washington equalizer. When the Capitals got their third power play of the game, they finally took advantage.
After the Flyers failed to clear the zone, the Capitals moved the puck to the front of the net with Dylan Strome sliding a pass through to Tom Wilson, who scored his 10th goal of the season with 4:31 remaining in the period.
In the final two minutes of the period, the Flyers got their next opportunity on the man-advantage. They closed the second period with 39 seconds of 5-on-3 time, but could not take advantage before the period ended.
Through two periods, shots were 18-15 Washington.
The Flyers could not score on the carryover power-play time, but they did get the game tied at 5:25. Joel Farabee gathered a loose puck in the corner and turned to the front of the net, beating Lindgren on a wraparound to even things at two with his 11th goal of the season.
At 9:05, an unlucky bounce for the Flyers put the Capitals back in front. After Wilson won a race to a loose puck, Aliaksei Protas broke his stick on a shot attempt. The puck went right to Strome, who buried the chance from the side of the net to make it 3-2 with his 12th goal of the season.
As the final minutes hit, the Flyers were starting their push for the tying goal again. They got it with 2:59 remaining in regulation.
Owen Tippett fired a turnaround shot through a screen, beating Lindgren to make it 3-3 with his 10th goal of the season.
The Flyers nearly scored the winning goal in the closing seconds of regulation, as Travis Konecny was stopped with four seconds remaining by Lindgren. That forced overtime, where Washington dominated in possession, but ultimately required a shootout to decide the game.
Sean Couturier and T.J. Oshie traded goals in the first round, and both netminders made saves in the second round. Lindgren’s save in the second round was an aggressive one, coming way out of his net to make the sliding stop. He tried the same move in the third round on Brink, but the Flyers rookie outwaited Lindgren and scored. Anthony Mantha lost control during his attempt at the other end, securing the victory for the Flyers.
By reaching overtime, the Flyers extended their points streak to seven games. Lindgren finished the night with 29 saves on 32 shots in the loss.
Morgan Frost had two assists for the Flyers in the win. Strome, Wilson, and Protas all had multi-point games for the Capitals.
The Flyers get back on home ice on Saturday night to take on the Detroit Red Wings at 7 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | SO | T | |
| Capitals | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Flyers | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Scoring Summary
1st Period
- No Scoring
2nd Period
- PHI Bobby Brink (5) (Marc Staal, Morgan Frost) 2:14
- WSH Connor McMichael (6) (Aliaksei Protas, Anthony Mantha) 3:00
- WSH Tom Wilson (10) PP (Dylan Strome, T.J. Oshie) 15:29
3rd Period
- PHI Joel Farabee (11) (Ryan Poehling) 5:25
- WSH Strome (12) (Protas, Wilson) 9:05
- PHI Owen Tippett (10) (Frost) 17:01
Overtime
- No Scoring
Shootout
- PHI Sean Couturier – Goal
- WSH T.J. Oshie – Goal
- PHI Tyson Foerster – Save
- WSH Dylan Strome – Save
- PHI Bobby Brink – Goal
- WSH Anthony Mantha – Miss
Game Statistics
| Capitals | Flyers | |
| Shots | 30 | 32 |
| Power Play | 1/3 | 0/5 |
| Hits | 15 | 21 |
| Faceoff % | 52% | 48% |
| Giveaways | 5 | 5 |
| Takeaways | 3 | 3 |
| Blocked Shots | 17 | 16 |
| Penalty Minutes | 10 | 6 |
