The Philadelphia Flyers (1-4-1) still do not have a regulation win in 2024-2025. The Washington Capitals countered the Flyers, then never took their foot off the gas pedal.
It does not require a high-end level of intel to understand Philadelphia is playing frustrated. A young team is trying to find a groove and could be gripping the sticks too tightly, trying to force too much, or looking for the ideal play instead of working with what the defense gives them. Those intricacies were readily available and displayed in another poor performance at the Wells Fargo Center.
“There’s a frustration level. They want to play well. They want to win a hockey game. They want to score a goal in the home building. You can’t let the frustration turn into the cheating. You can’t forget about your structure as we’re going through this. It doubled up because it’s the start of the year, and we’re in this jam. There’s even more pressure. We just have to play the way we’re supposed to play within our structure. Hopefully, we get some good things to happen, and we just gain our confidence little by little.” – John Tortorella; 10/22/2024
Tomorrow, the Flyers will travel to Washington to visit the Capitals, completing a home-and-home back-to-back.
First Period
Alex Ovechkin served a minor penalty for interference. Philadelphia went on their first powerplay, and so began the nightmare performance for Egor Zamula.
Zamula attempted to keep the puck in the attacking zone at the blue line, but Nic Dowd poked it away, creating a breakaway chance. He tucked a backhand past Sam Ersson, 1-0, with 16:11 remaining in the first period. Dowd began the scoring with a shorthanded marker, but he was not exclusive to the club on the evening.
Nicolas Deslauriers and Dylan McIlrath squared off. The Flyers won an offensive zone faceoff, but the scheduled fight happened. As the game progressed, Philadelphia did not possess the puck often enough, so this was not the best time for a brawl between Deslauriers and McIlrath, but both exchanged fists. The idea was to energize the benches, and Deslauriers did his part.
Travis Konecny served a minor penalty for slashing. Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York cleared the defensive zone. On the way out of the box, Garnet Hathaway tried to lead Konecny on a breakaway chance, one that Konecny dived for the puck, got back upright on his skates, and took a shot on Charlie Lindgren, but Lindgren made the save. The Flyers were perfect on the penalty kill (5/5) versus Washington. Scott Laughton was the most effective penalty-killer for Philadelphia, generating a high-danger shot on goal when Nick Seeler served a minor penalty for high-sticking later in the period.
Hemmed in the defensive zone, Joel Farabee cleared the puck into the neutral zone to get fresh legs onto the ice. The Capitals controlled the puck possession, forcing the Flyers to dump and chase often for a chance to create scoring opportunities. Ryan Poehling did find Bobby Brink on a backdoor feed, but Brink hesitated on the shot, and the momentary delay allowed Lindgren to commit grand theft with the glove.
Pierre-Luc Dubois served a minor penalty for slashing, providing Philadelphia with their second powerplay. Andrew Mangiapane scored the second straight shorthanded goal for Washington, 2-0, cruising down center ice with Zamula out of defensive position. This goal was the eventual game-winner with 4:53 remaining in the first period. The Flyers failed to convert on the powerplay (0/3) versus the Capitals. Noah Cates, who spent 0:52 on the powerplay, was the most efficient, securing a faceoff win to possess the puck as Konecny logged the only shot on goal on the man advantage.
Second Period
Continuing his productive outing from the home opener, Travis Sanheim continued to join the attack. He started to get Lindgren moving in the crease, but credit where it is due, Lindgren held his ground with Matvei Michkov on the crease.
Patience is vital for Philadelphia to shake the funk. Tortorella hammered home the point about his lineup doing too much in the offensive zone, and complicating the approach tempered the attack. In the second period, the Flyers mustered just three shots on goal.
“We have to keep our composure and get out there to Washington; get up in the morning and start again. The biggest thing for me is I don’t want us to lose our identity as far as checking forward. I don’t want us on our heels, but there’s a fine line of checking forward and cheating because you haven’t scored a goal. That’s what I’m talking about [in] structure. That’s something we have to coach, and we just have to stick together and try to fight through this.” – John Tortorella; 10/22/2024
One example came when Brink had the puck on his stick and an available shooting lane. Instead, he dished to Owen Tippett with Washington in hot pursuit on the backcheck. The extra pass sacrificed a shot attempt, looking for the perfect play instead of the available, simplified option.
Third Period
Konecny and Jakob Chychrun began the third period in the penalty box, each serving a minor penalty for roughing. Four-on-four hockey would start the final frame, and Philadelphia officially played 100 minutes at the Wells Fargo Center without scoring a goal.
Sanheim, who played an equally solid game with York, scored the first goal for the Flyers at home in 2024-2025. Michkov worked the puck up to York at the blue line, and Sanheim accepted the pass, sending his wrist shot past Lindgren, 2-1, with 19:26 remaining in regulation. Some energy entered an otherwise humdrum arena.
Then, 1:04 later, John Carlson restored the two-goal lead, 3-1, with 18:22 remaining in regulation. Dylan Strome stripped Jamie Drysdale, and when Carlson got the puck on the attack, his shot deflected off Zamula and past Ersson.
Fast forward to 7:00 remaining in regulation, and Philadelphia tallied five shots since the first period. The Capitals smothered and covered the Flyers like a Waffle House order.
Chychrun put the exclamation point on this game, 4-1, with 5:53 remaining in regulation. Ersson turned the puck over behind the net, and Jakub Vrána began the scoring sequence. The intention was for Ersson to send the puck over to Drysdale, but the turnover allowed Vrána to locate Brandon Duhaime, and Chychrun joined the attack at the high slot, scoring on a wrist shot.
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