Postgame 5: Flyers Fall to Caps, 4-3

The Philadelphia Flyers lost a winnable game against the Metropolitan Division leading Washington Capitals, 4-3, at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday evening. Philly took a 3-2 lead into the third period but they were unable to nail down a victory.

The Flyers generated the first three shots on goal of the first period, including a scoring chance for Matvei Michkov created by Emil Andrae. Rodrigo Abols blocked a Jakob Chychrun shot attempt at the other end.

On his next shift, Michkov had another chance in front and was hooked by Rasmus Sandin at 4:03. Scott Laughton won the first faceoff of the ensuing power play. The Flyers got set up initially but were unable to generate any shots on net.

At 7:23, Ivan Fedotov saw his first shot of the game: a breakaway chance for Tom Wilson. Fedotov made the save. At 11:39, Fedotov stopped Dylan Strome.

The Capitals went to the power play at 12:41 as Andrae was called for tripping Taylor Raddysh deep in the defensive zone. Fedotov made stops on an Alex Ovechkin one-timer from the left circle and a Strome shot from the other side.

Michkov (15th goal of the season) scored through Charlie Lindgren's pads at 17:31 on a stretch pass from Travis Sanheim out to the Russian rookie at the attacking blueline. Sanheim had the lone assist.

With 52.3 seconds (19:07) left in the first period, Ovechkin (26th) skated unimpeded into the bottom of the right circle and sniped a shot past Fedotov to knot the score at 1-1. The assists went to Martin Fehervary and Strome. The sequence started with a counterattack off a Flyers' turnover.

First period shots on goal were tied at 7-7. The Flyers won 12 of 17 faceoffs.

Erik Johnson airmailed a puck over the glass and was called for delay of game at 2:11 of the second period. Early in the 4-on-5, Noah Cates worked a shorthanded 2-on-1 with Garnet Hathaway.

At 4:17, with play back at 5-on-5, Connor McMichael (19th) tipped the puck past Fedotov for a 2-1 lead for Washington. The assists went to Aliaksei Protos and Chychrun.

The Flyers went to their second power play at 5:47 as Trevor van Riemsdyk tripped Anthony Richard. Emil Andrae wound up and ripped a one-timer from the point off a pass from Konecny. Tyson Foerster (PPG, 15th) deflected the puck home at 7:23.

After Fedotov stopped Fehervary at one of the ice, the Flyers scored a transition tic-tac-toe goal at the back post by Michkov (2nd of the game, 16th of the season) at 11:19. The assists went to Rodrigo Abols (1st NHL helper) and Jamie Drysdale.

At 14:21, Cates swooped around the net and backhanded a pass to Foerster at point blank range. Lindgren caught a huge break when Foerster put the near tap-in goal off the post rather than in the net.

Second period shots on goal were 6-4 in the Flyers' favor (13-11 Flyers through 40 minutes). Faceoffs in the middle stanza were 9-7 Capitals (Philly won 19 of 33 overall through two periods). Also, through 40 minutes, Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler was credited with six hits among 15 total for Philly.

Lindgren made a sweeping glove save on Travis Sanheim at 1:10 of the third period to keep the gap at 3-2. Cates made a good setup to Sanheim to create the chance. Several minutes later, Michkov attempted the Michigan lacrosse-style shot.

Washington forged a 3-3 tie at 6:23 on a top of the left circle wrist shot goal by Lars Eller (10th). The lone assist went to Taylor Raddysh. The sequence started with a failed clearing opportunity by Konecny.

At 9:29, Lindgren fought off a rising shot by Konecny. Shots net in the third period were 4-2 Calgary at that point. At 11:31, Ethan Frank beat out an icing and one-timed a shot on net from the right side off a bounce from the end boards.

Washington seized a 4-3 lead at 12:05 as Carlson completed a diagonal pass to partner Chychrun on the other side. Chychrun (14th) fired a shot into the net from the left dot. Raddysh collected the second assist.

With five minutes left in regulation, Drysdale sped into the right circle. Lindgren stopped the ensuing shot.

The Flyers pulled Fedotov for a 6-on-5 attack with 2:03 remaining in the third period. Washington iced the puck at 18:53. Philly called a timeout. Foerster came close in the waning seconds but the Flyers ran out of time.

Fedotov probably would have liked a second crack at two of the Caps' goals. He finished with 14 saves on 18 shots. Lindgren stopped 18 of 21 shots to earn the victory.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

90 Anthony Richard - 14 Sean Couturier - 39 Matvei Michkov

71 Tyson Foerster - 27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink

21 Scott Laughton - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 11 Travis Konecny

44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 78 Jacob Gaucher - 19 Garnet Hathaway

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim

24 Nick Seeler- 9 Jamie Drysdale

36 Emil Andrae - 77 Erik Johnson

82 Ivan Fedotov

[33 Samuel Ersson]

PP1: Drysdale, Brink, Laughton, Konecny, Michkov

PP2: Andrae, Richard, Couturier, Foerster, Sanheim

Scratches: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (undisclosed), 74 Owen Tippett (upper body), 5 Egor Zamula (upper body), 25 Ryan Poehling (upper body), 22 Jacob Pelletier (non-roster, not yet with team), Andrei Kuzmenko (non-roster, not yet with team).

TURNING POINT

The Eller goal stung the Flyers as they found the game tied again in the third period. The Flyers had chances to retake the lead -- and then to tie it after Chychrun made it 4-3 -- but were unable to secure another goal.

POSTGAME 5 ("5 Things" Revisited)

1. Key game for Travis Konecny: Entering Thursday's game, Konecny was pointless in his previous four games. Against the Capitals, he set up Andrae for the tipped-in goal by Foerster. Overall, though, it was not one of Konecny's better games of the season in terms of puck management and tracking back on plays. On the Ovechkin goal, Michkov was out on the ice for a full minute.

2. Expect big minutes from Noah Cates : The two-way center logged 17:31 of ice time across 27 shifts. Pointless in his last eight games heading into Thursday, Cates once again played into tough luck offensively as he created several chances (most notably for Cates) but came away with nothing to show for it.

3. Shot suppression: The Flyers blocked 12 shot attempts by Washington and held the Caps to 18 shots overall. That's the type of game the Flyers needed to play but they were unable to come away with the win.

4. Five-on-five play: The Flyers' overall process at 5-on-5 was pretty good, although they gave some transition rushes. Ultimately, the Capitals generated all four of their goals at 5-on-5. Philly had two.

5. Special teams: The Flyers went 1-for-2 on the power play against Washington. They were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.