Postgame 5: Flyers Unable to Finish Comeback vs. Caps

A third period charge by the Philadelphia Flyers fell one goal short in a 3-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Thursday evening. The Flyers erased two-thirds of a 3-0 deficit in the final period but were unable to draw even. Washington swept the four-game season series between the teams. The Flyers fall to their eighth regulation defeat in the last nine games (1-8-0).

Alex Ovechkin (35th goal of the season, 888th of his NHL regular season career) gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 14:25. Trever Van Riemsdyk put the puck at the net. Aliaksei Protas kept the puck and it made its way to Ovechkin at point blank range from the bottom of the left circle.

Konecny put a blast on net in the final minute. First period shots on goal were 6-5 Washington.

At 1:56 of the second period, Washington took a 2-0 lead on a Brandon Duhaime deflection goal (8th). Matt Roy one-timed a pass-out from Anthony Beauvillier as Duhaime drove to the blue paint. The puck went up and under the crossbar.

The Flyers went to the game's first power play at 5:57. Tom Wilson committed a hooking infraction as he tracked back on a play. At 7:42, the remaining 15 seconds of the Flyers' 5-on-4 were wiped out by a Tyson Foerster tripping minor. Washington went on the power play after a brief 4-on-4.

Washington put a 3-0 stranglehold on the game at 11:06 of the second period as a broken Flyers rush turned into a transition goal the other way by Mangiapane (12th) off a feed from Beauvillier.

Ersson made an outstanding save on Connor McMichael to keep the deficit at three goals. The Flyers generated a mere two shots on goal through 15 minutes. Second period shot totals were 8-7 Washington (14-12 Capitals through two periods) but nearly all of the Philadelphia shots were from the perimeter: nothing over the middle.

Philadelphia put on a very heavy push in the third period, generating momentum off two coach's challenges that went the Flyers' way. The Flyers had scoring chances galore over the final 20 minutes.

The Flyers got on the board at 5:10 of the third period on an unassisted goal by Ryan Poehling (6th). Owen Tippett put a cross-corner dump-into the left corner. Poehling retrieved the puck and muscled it toward the cage. As the Flyers' center neared the net, Washington defenseman Jakob Chychrun, knocked the puck away from Poehling but accidentally directed it into the net.

At 6:12, the Capitals thought veteran defenseman John Carlson scored to restore a three-goal lead. The Flyers called timeout and then head coach John Tortorellla challenged the goal for a missed hand pass that should have brought about a stoppage. After a very lengthy review, the would-be goal came off the scoreboard.

As play continued, Konecny was in the middle of two glorious scoring opportunities: his own and later a 2-on-0 breakaway with Sean Couturier that did not produce a shot on goal. A few minutes later, Noah Cates was stoned on a Grade A scoring chance.

Finally, at 17:24, the Flyers scored in a goal-mouth scramble to close within 3-2. The goal was disallowed for goalie interference by Sean Couturier. After a replay review, the call was reversed. Couturier (11th) was credited with the goal, assisted by Poehling and Tippett.

The Flyers pulled Ersson for an extra attacker after the Couturier goal. They were, however, unable to come up with an equalizer nor did Washington extend their lead with an empty net goal.

Flyers goaltender Ersson made 13 saves on 16 shots. Washington goalie Charlie Lindgren stopped 27 of 29 shots. Third period shots were 17-2 in Philly's favor.

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

74 Owen Tippett - 25 Ryan Poehling - 39 Matvei Michkov
71 Tyson Foerster -27 Noah Cates - 10 Bobby Brink
15 Olle Lycksell - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
44 Nicolas Deslauriers - 18 Rodrigo Abols - 22 Jakob Pelletier

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
36 Emil Andrae - 5 Egor Zamula

32 Samuel Ersson
[82 Ivan Fedotov]

Scratches: 55 Rasmus Ristolainen (upper bod), 19 Garnet Hathaway (upper body).

PP1: Drysdale, Konecny, Couturier, Michkov, Brink
PP2: Andrae, Tippett, Cates, Lycksell, Sanheim

TURNING POINT

The Flyers nearly dug themselves out of a cavernous 3-0 hole.Ultimately, the game-winning goal came off an errant Flyers rush that turned into Mangiapane's goal at the other end. At the time, it seemed to be just an insurance goal that turned a seemingly comfortable two-goal lead (given the Flyers' scoring woes and general lack of chances in the first two periods) into a three-goal cushion. As it turned out, that goal proved to be vital for the Capitals.

POSTGAME 5 ("RAV4 THINGS" REVISITED)

1. Between the pipes: Ersson had one of those games where the stat line looked ugly because of a low volume of shots and three pucks that went into the net. There wasn't much Ersson could have gone on at least two of the three goals.

2. Frontline and depth scoring: The Flyers entered the game having been shut out in each of their two previous matches. Scoring from any source was needed. On Thursday, they got help from an own goal (credited to Poehling) and a favorable coach's challenge replay that turned a goalie interference wash-out into a tally for Couturier.

3. Flyers special teams: Philly went 0-for-2 on the power play and are still looking for their first man advantage goal in March. They were 1-for-1 on an abbreviated penalty kill.

4. Winning the draw: The Flyers won 26 faceoffs and lost 26 for an even 50-50 split. Cates led the Flyers by going 10-for-18 overall.

5. X-factor -- Gretzky chase: Alex Ovechkin entered Thursday's game with 887 career goals: seven goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky for the NHL's all-time lead in regular season tallies. He moved one closer to the Great One.