The two newest faces of the Washington Capitals put on a show on Wednesday night, showing to the Caps fans what they’re able to do and why the team believed in them. They were key impact players in a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on the road in their second preseason game.
The first period was rather sloppy as the Caps were outshot 7-5. They had a power play opportunity but couldn’t get anything going. It was the second period when the new guys took over the game as the Caps dominated the final 40 minutes.
At 4:23 in the second period, Bobby Nardella stripped the puck away from a flyer. The puck bounced to Connor Brown and he finished it off for his first unofficial goal with the Capitals.
The Caps would later get another power play and this time they cashed in. At 7:42 it was a tic tac toe goal from Marcus Johansson to Nardella to Dylan Strome on the right face off circle to make it 2-0.
That would be the score after two periods as the Caps outshot the Flyers 10-6 in the middle stanza.
Kevin Hayes got the Flyers on the board at 3:44. Then late in the third period at 16:20, Strome and Brown were all alone on a two on zero breakaway. Brown fed it to Strome and Strome finished it off for his second goal of the game.
3-1 would be the final score. Caps outshot the Flyers 12-8 in the third period and 27-21 overall. Strome also scored in the practice shootout round, the only player on either team to do so.
"“I thought they were good all night. Their whole line [with Joe Snively] was really good. They worked, they got good skill, they complemented each other, and they brought a lot of speed. I thought Brownie did a good job at dogging pucks. … Stromer was around the puck all night. Really good.”"
The Caps have a road back to back this weekend beginning on Friday night. First up is the Detroit Red Wings and then on Saturday they’ll play the Columbus Blue Jackets. Unfortunately, neither game will be televised.