Washington Capitals win preseason finale but lose something big

The Washington Capitals won their final preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3. It was a good game but still a bad outcome that nobody wanted. I’m not talking about the scoreboard.

In the first period Alex Ovechkin left the game after he threw a hit on Flyers forward Travis Konecny but fell to the ice as a result of the hit, favoring his left leg. He left the game at 10:18 of the opening period, getting up on his own while on the ice but hobbling coming off. He did not return and Peter Laviolette said after the game that Ovechkin will be reevaluated Saturday. The team says it’s a lower body injury.

The Caps would strike first at 11:11. After several pokes at the puck in front of the net, Lars Eller put it in for his first of the preseason. The Caps outshot the Flyers 12-6 in the first 20 minutes.

John Carlson doubled the lead at 4:54 in the second period for his third of the preseason, going top shelf on his shot. Martin Fehervary and Evgeny Kuznetsov had the assists. 2-0 was the lead but it wouldn’t last too long.

The Flyers scored three consecutive goals. First it was Claude Giroux at 9:25. Then Cam Atkinson at 10:41 to tie it and again at 18:20 to give them the lead. The Flyers outshot the Caps 14-10 in the second period to take a 3-2 lead entering the third. Despite things being bad from Ovechkin’s injury to the blown lead, the Caps gave their fans something to smile about in the third.

The Caps got a power play at 2:04 in the third when Scott Laughton was called for holding Garnet Hathaway. Tom Wilson would score on the attack with a rebound in front of the net. Justin Schultz and Kuznetsov had the helpers and the goal came at 2:27.

At 4:02 the Caps went on a 2 on 1 rush. Conor Sheary fed a cross ice pass to Anthony Mantha and he scored his second goal of the preseason after winning the game in overtime the other night in Boston. Like the other night, it would go on as the eventual game winning goal. Nic Dowd put the game away with an empty net goal at 19:03.

The Caps outshot the Flyers 11-5 in the third period and 33-25 overall. Ilya Samsonov played the full game in goal and made 22 saves. The Caps are off today and they need to make some final decisions about the roster. Plus we gotta await word on Ovechkin’s status.