Capitals Road Win Streak Snaps at Hands of Flyers

The Washington Capitals fell to the Flyers 5-3 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia Wednesday night. It was the end of what was an impressive seven game road win streak for the Capitals.

The Flyers opened the scoring 7:26 into the game, capitalizing on their first power play. A Scott Laughton wrist shot from the point was the icebreaker, beating a screened Darcy Kuemper to put the Capitals down 1-0.

After an Alex Ovechkin breakaway miss, the Capitals found life just under one minute left in the opening period. It was Garnet Hathaway that got the Capitals on the board, courtesy of a backdoor feed from Nick Jensen. Nic Dowd recorded the secondary assist on what was Hathaway’s 6th of the season.

The Capitals momentum didn’t last long, when just 21 seconds later, Travis Konecny re-gained the lead for the bad guys. Konecny’s first goal of the game took the Flyers into the break with the lead, while also outshooting the Capitals 15-10 in the opening frame.

Philadelphia came out of the gates flying to start the second period, but failed to extend their lead on two grade-A chances. After opportunities on both ends, Carter Hart and Darcy Kuemper were nothing short of solid in the middle frame, keeping the game at 2-1 after two. The Capitals were outshot 12-8 in the second.

Owen Tippett and Travis Konecny scored goals for the Flyers just under two minutes apart in the third period,  starting to make the game out of reach for the Caps. Later on, Marcus Johansson and T.J. Oshie both scored to get the Capitals within one, but ultimately fell short. Travis Konecny potted the empty net goal to seal the game for the hat-trick and the win.

Final shots in the game were 36-29 in favor of Philadelphia, while Darcy Kuemper made 31 saves in the loss. The Capitals went 0-1 on the power play, where the Flyers scored two power play goals going 2-6. The Capitals will remain in 4th place in the Metropolitan division with a record of 23-15-6, good for the first wild card spot.

The Capitals will be back in action Saturday night, when they look for revenge, hosting the Flyers at Capital One Arena. Game time will commence at 7:00 PM EST.

*Game Notes

• This was Trevor Van Riemsdyk’s 500th NHL game, playing against his brother and recording a game and season high with 23:49 TOI.
• Nick Jensen’s 18th assist of the year has tied his career high in assists from the 2018-19 season.
• Nicklas Backstrom recorded an assist on the Oshie goal for his first point of the season.
• Anthony Mantha was scratched for the second straight game.