Photo: John McCreary/Getty Images
The Washington Capitals fell to the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 2-1 at Capital One Arena on Saturday night. The loss put the Capitals into a tie for third in the Metropolitan Division with the Flyers (who have a game in hand on the Capitals) and one point behind the New York Rangers for second with each team having played 11 games this season. Goaltender Vitek Vanecek made 30 saves in the defeat.
Capitals’ Lineup vs. Flyers
Graphic: @Capitals
Center Hendrix Lapierre replaced left-wing Anthony Mantha in the lineup after the 27-year-old underwent shoulder surgery on Friday. Mantha, who will be out for an indefinite timeframe, left the second period of the Capitals’ 5-4 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Thursday and did not return. Center Aliaksei Protas was assigned to the AHL’s Hershey Bears before Saturday’s game.
Center Nicklas Backstrom (hip injury) missed his 11th straight game while right-wing T.J. Oshie (lower-body injury) missed his fourth.
First Period
The Capitals led 9-4 in blocked shots, 4-3 in takeaways, won 53% of the draws, and did not score on their lone power play of the first.
The Flyers led 12-6 in shots and 7-5 in hits through one period.
Each team was credited with two giveaways in the opening stanza.
Second Period
Center Derick Brassard ripped one to the top right corner from the left dot over the glove of Vanecek after getting a feed from right-wing Cam Atkinson at the goal-line to break the ice at 11:18 into the second.
While fighting off a Capitals defender, center Sean Couturier stuffed in a rebound after defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen’s shot from the slot was stopped with the pad by Vanecek on the doorstep to extend the lead to two with 4:16 left.
The Capitals led 17-8 in blocked shots, 17-10 in hits, 5-4 in takeaways, and did not convert on two power plays through two periods.
The Flyers led 26-17 in shots (including 14-11 in the second), had three giveaways while the Capitals had six, failed to capitalize on their lone power play, and won 56% of the draws in the first 40 minutes.
Third Period
Right-wing Brett Leason tapped the puck over the glove of Jones and in at the side of the net after center Connor McMichael entered the offensive zone with speed, got behind the goal-line, and flipped it back to him to cut the Flyers’ lead in half 6:02 into the third.
SURPRISE! pic.twitter.com/gTFIP7mcbI
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 7, 2021
The Capitals led 15-6 in third-period shots, 20-12 in blocked shots, 19-15 in hits, and did not convert on three power plays.
The Flyers led 7-6 in takeaways, had five giveaways while the Capitals had eight, failed to capitalize on one opportunity on the man advantage, and won 53% of the draws.
Each team tallied 32 shots.
Next game: Monday vs. Buffalo Sabres (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington)
By Harrison Brown
At least the kid line produced a goal. Otherwise, the offense looked Coyote level ugly. (We’re giving the Yotes a run for the money in offensive futility.) And nothing like making Martin jones who was NOT very good the last two years look really great.
That was ugly. First game back after a road trip is always dicey, but the flyers should have been a win. Injuries are certainly part of what’s going on as of late.
With about 1/2of their top scorers out and others not producing this is an expected result. There is nothing coming from the PP. As Backy is hurt and out and mantha now out probably for the year isnt it time to seriously play the younger guys and see what you could get for guys like Hagelin and Eller. Lets play the roster that will be here next year and see what picks we can get for some of the guys on the team now. Lets begin the rebuild NOW rather than wait for 3 more years. Beides if Backy and his hip do come back no telling what damage to it he will take if someone hits him.
When does Forsythe go? He is the architect of the PP, that he took over from Adam Oates. Sure injuries to Nicky and Oshie hurt, but other teams are playing with injuries too. Zone entries are mehhh, and there is poor execution a lot. Is that on the players of the coaching?