Not much good for Flyers in preseason loss to the Capitals. ‘Tough night for a lot of guys.’

HERSHEY — As the guy below the press box yelled a few times, it is just the preseason.

And after a 5-1 loss to the Washington Capitals in “The Sweetest Place on Earth” on Thursday, Flyers coach Rick Tocchet isn’t going to burn the tape — he is a teacher at heart, after all — but is happy it was an exhibition game.

“It’s hard to value individual guys; our team didn’t play well, so I can’t really go through [who played well]. I don’t know if there’s any guys who played well. That’s OK, though. The third game, a two-, three-hour bus ride; there’s some factors to it. … So, yeah, it was just a tough night for a lot of guys.”

Here are three players who caught our eye from the Flyers’ third preseason game.

As expected, Dan Vladař played only the first period on Thursday. He allowed one goal, a power-play snipe from Andrew Cristall that went over his shoulder from the left faceoff circle. Seeing his first action, the offseason free-agent acquisition showed why he will be a steady partner for Sam Ersson.

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Like the Swede, the Czech goalie was calm in net, despite facing several shots from in tight, including a split save that had him falling back on the loose puck in the crease. During his morning availability, Tocchet said the plan is to have Vladař and Ersson play two full games each across the final four preseason games.

There is a confidence to Cam York’s game under Tocchet. The defenseman has been praised by the new bench boss since training camp opened a week ago, and he suited up for his first game of the preseason against the Capitals. Although he was shaking off the rust, there were spurts where York looked like the player that Flyers fans can hope to see this year.

On the first shift of the game and while sporting the “A,” York jumped up into the play after transitioning the puck up the ice. He almost scored a short-handed goal later in the game as he skated right to the net, coming close to connecting on a pass from Travis Konecny, who was also playing his first of the preseason.

And, although they had four power plays, York had the best chance on the first one when he sent a shot on net from the front that hit goalie Clay Stevenson up high and dropped, but Owen Tippett couldn’t bury it.

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“Just always trying to push the pace,” said York, who ran out of steam like his teammates as the game wore on. “Always want to be in the play; had a couple of opportunities there, just didn’t go in. But, you know, first game, definitely some rust there, but things to build on.”

While Jett Luchanko, Alex Bump, and Jack Nesbitt had moments but nothing consistent, Rodrigo Ābols continued to state his case. Skating on the wing, the 29-year-old forward, who can also play center, was once again impressive as he used his 6-foot-4, 206-pound body to protect pucks and forecheck, while finding his way around the net.

In the second period, Adam Ginning put the puck on net, and Ābols came close to burying the rebound at the right post before Jacob Gaucher found the back of the net.

“I think what we’re looking for, guys holding on to the pucks, playing the interior, making smart plays, hit. That line actually was probably our best line,” Tocchet said of the line of Ābols, Gaucher, and Nick Deslauriers. “They kept the puck and stuff like that, when they could. So, yeah, there’s something there.”

Added the Latvian, when asked about his line bringing energy: “I feel like that’s our job. I mean, anytime I can get out there, I’m happy.”

“We’re bigger boys, so we’ve got to use our size there,” he said. “And we finally got one shift where I felt like we got some bounces, we were in the right places, and we ended up scoring a goal there.”

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Tocchet wanted to see that Ābols can play a bunch of games and he is the only Flyer skater to play in the first three preseason games.

“You could feel it, I’m not going to lie, you could feel it was the third game in five nights,” he said. “But I think that’s where I’ve got to learn to pick my spots and put myself in good positions — not cheat for offense, not get stuck out there. But I think I managed that pretty well.”

Aleksei Kolosov had his worst appearance of the preseason, allowing four goals on 20 shots across the final 40 minutes. … Tippett led the team with four shots on goal. … Bump is getting closer and closer to burying the puck. He was credited with two shots on goal, with one a shot from the right circle that seemed to handcuff Stevenson during a power play in the second, and had a snipe that won’t count as a shot on goal as it went off the post after a turnover. … The power play continued to struggle to find connectivity on passes and to find the interior, like the coach wants. Nesbitt had a turnover by the Capitals’ blue line, leading to a short-handed goal by Connor McMichael. … With York on the ice as his partner, defenseman Helge Grans got torched down the left side by Sonny Milano, who skated around him, cut across the crease and tucked the puck around Kolosov. … Tocchet said postgame that he felt the team needed Friday off, and practice was canceled.

The Flyers host the Boston Bruins at the newly minted Xfinity Mobile Arena at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

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