Flyers Lineup

James van Riemsdyk – Sean Couturier – Joel Farabee

Scott Laughton – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny

Jakub Voracek – Claude Giroux – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Oskar Lindblom – Nolan Patrick – Andy Andreoff

Ivan Provorov – Justin Braun

Travis Sanheim – Philippe Myers

Shayne Gostisbehere – Nate Prosser

Brian Elliot – Carter Hart

Connor Bunnaman, Robert Hagg, Erik Gustafsson, Carsen Twarynski

Morgan Frost (dislocated shoulder), Michael Raffl (hand)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Flyers, and they’ve really struggled on this home stand – even with an injection of fan energy back in the building. Alain Vigneault continued to tweak his lineup in advance of today’s game against the Capitals, still searching for the winning combination for his roster.

Andy Andreoff remained on the fourth line, while Philippe Myers and Nate Prosser drew in on the back end. That left Robert Hagg and Erik Gustafsson as the odd men out, watching from the press box.

First Period

The Flyers took warmups in their traditional green St. Patrick’s day jerseys, and Gritty was decked out in sparkly leprechaun garb, but the luck of the puck was not with the orange and black in the opening 20 minutes. 

A Nolan Patrick turnover at the blue line allowed Daniel Sprong to get to the net and get a shot on Brian Elliott. Elliott bobbled the rebound and the puck jumped up and over him, crossing the goal line as Oskar Lindblom raced to try to keep it out of the net.

Another turnover later in the period led to Carl Hagelin tapping in a rebound in close through Elliott’s five hole. The veteran netminder did not look sharp out of the gate in this game, and seemed to struggle with tracking, positioning, and rebound control on every shot.

Second Period

Things started to turn around for Philadelphia in the middle frame when James van Riemsdyk got the Flyers on the board within the first three minutes. In a heads-up play, van Riemsdyk intercepted the puck in the slot and quickly snapped it past Ilya Samsonov.

But as the Flyers have been known to do more often than not this season, they immediately gave up another goal just about 30 seconds later. Nick Jensen pushed the puck up and out of the zone off the faceoff, found an open lane, and continued to tap the puck ahead of him as he outskated Shayne Gostisbehere. He went bar down on Elliott, and that was enough for Vigneault. Carter Hart entered the game.

Nolan Patrick ended his goal drought with a one-time from the circle, set up by some tremendous play by Jakub Voracek and Travis Sanheim. Patrick hadn’t scored a goal since the end of January.

That’s where the Flyers’ good fortune ran out, as Alex Ovechkin scored a power play goal from the top of the left circle while Sanheim was serving a holding penalty. Washington took a two-goal lead into the second intermission.

Third Period

The outlook looked bleak when Nic Dowd deflected a Garnet Hathaway point shot down and through Hart’s five hole. Down by three goals, it seemed like an insurmountable hill for the Flyers to climb out of.

However, a late power play opportunity gave Philadephia just the crack in the door they needed. Gostisbehere blasted a point shot through traffic to beat Samsonov on the man advantage and pulled the Flyers within two.

Vigneault pulled his goaltender for an extra attacker with more than three minutes left on the clock, and it paid off. Voracek perfectly fed the puck cross-ice to Giroux waiting in the left circle, and the captain buried a one-timer to inch his team even closer to the tie.

Alas, it was all too little, too late, as the Capitals managed to keep the home team at bay in the final minutes of play, and handed the Flyers yet another loss on home ice.

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲  Travis Sanheim, James van Riemsdyk, Jakub Voracek

▼  Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Justin Braun, Brian Elliott