Flyers’ early season struggles continue with 5-2 loss to the Capitals

WASHINGTON ― The Flyers’ spiral continues.

After losing 4-3 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, they followed it with a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals.

The Flyers have now lost three straight and 12 of their first 15 games. Philly is 0-3-3 against the Metropolitan Division.

In the third period, the Flyers cut into the Capitals’ 3-1 lead with a power-play goal. Trevor Zegras won the faceoff back to Jamie Drysdale, and the defenseman walked the line before giving it back to the forward.

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Zegras fired a shot on goal that went off Capitals defenseman Timothy Liljegren and right to Denver Barkey. The forward made a nice move and passed to Matvei Michkov by the right post for the easy goal.

Michkov has nine goals, tying him for the fourth-most in the NHL. He also has five power-play goals, tying him with Florida Panthers’ Sam Reinhart and Utah Mammouth’s Nick Schmaltz for the second-most in the league.

The Flyers went right back on the power play after Matt Roy exited the penalty box and went right back in after getting a minor for abuse of officials. Zegras had the best chance from the left circle but was robbed by Capitals goalie Logan Thompson with less than nine minutes remaining in regulation.

Just over a minute later, Jordan Kyrou reestablished Washington’s two-goal lead with his second of the night. A point shot by former Flyers draft pick Jack St. Ivany hit Dylan Strome and then Nick Seeler in front before Kyrou buried it past Joseph Woll as he tried to recover from the deflections.

St. Ivany, a former Flyers draft pick who was making his Capitals debut after being picked up on waivers Oct. 24, had two assists.

Alex Tuch added an empty-netter during a six-on-five 29 seconds after another Flyers’ power play expired.

The Flyers pulled Woll with just over four minutes to go during a man advantage after Hunter McDonald drew a roughing penalty on Pierre-Luc Dubois. They had seven shot attempts, and one more by Travis Sanheim after the penalty expired when he hit the post, before Tuch scored.

Although coach Rick Tocchet stressed how important a good start was, the Capitals took a 1-0 lead less than two minutes in off Tuch’s stick.

Michkov couldn’t control the puck on the boards, and Washington kept the puck in. Tuch curled high in the zone and was released by Porter Martone. As he drifted down the middle, Michkov was there but also didn’t pick up Tuch, and he scored on the rebound from the slot.

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Although they allowed one goal and were outshot 13-11 in the opening frame, it could have been worse if not for Woll. Once again, the netminder was reading the play and moving well, and while he faced six high-danger chances, he stopped two of three shots.

Woll made a shoulder save on Tuch before the goal. After it, Woll stopped Alex Ovechkin, gobbling up a bouncing puck, and then stopped the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer again, reading the play through traffic. Ovechkin, who will retire at the end of the season and is expected to play his last regular-season game April 10 in South Philly, entered the game with one goal in the first 10 games.

With under three minutes left in the first period, Woll made a blocker save on Justin Sourdif before using the blocker again on a shot from the inner edge of the right circle by Liljegren with under 90 seconds.

His work paid off when, early in the middle frame, the Flyers tied it 1-1 on Sean Couturier’s first goal of the season.

The captain won the faceoff back to Seeler, and although Capitals’ Ryan Leonard blocked his initial shot, he got another chance. The veteran defenseman fired a shot, and this time Couturier redirected it off the shaft of his stick behind Thompson.

A tied score didn’t last long.

With Zegras in the box for slashing, Woll stopped a one-timer by Strome from the right circle. Unfortunately, the rebound went right to Kyrou in the left circle, and he put the puck past the sliding Woll.

The Flyers then took two bad penalties, further stalling their comeback attempt. Martone was called for tripping Tom Wilson in the neutral zone, and Jacob Gaucher chose to defend Alex Bump after he was — cleanly — crunched by Anthony Beauvillier.

Washington didn’t score on either man advantage but eventually capitalized during five-on-five action when Bump couldn’t get the puck out. Eventually, Aliaksei Protas tipped in a point shot by Roy to extend the Capitals’ lead to 3-1. Woll got a piece with his glove, but it wasn’t enough as Protas was left all alone by the right post.

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The Flyers power play is now ranked 24th in the NHL (16.3%). … Woll allowed four goals on 29 shots. … McDonald had a team-high five hits. … Drysdale led all skaters with 23:26 of ice time. … Tocchet placed Oliver Bonk on the third pair with McDonald, and moved Drysdale alongside Sanheim. … The Flyers won 58% of the faceoffs, led by Couturier (12-of-14) and Christian Dvorak (13-of-17). … Forward Noel Acciari played in his 600th NHL game. He left the game midway through the first period with an upper-body injury. While battling Capitals defenseman Liljegren in the corner of the offensive zone, Acciari started falling to the ice. At the same time, Martin Fehérváry and Gaucher were coming down the boards, and Fehérváry fell awkwardly into Acciari. He returned later in the period.

The Flyers have three days until their next game, when they host the Mammoth at home on Sunday (4 p.m., NBCSP).