Flyers’ next opponent: Observations from Capitals’ loss to Lightning
Playing without its best defenseman, Washington fought back from a two-goal deficit before falling in a shootout.
Up next for the Flyers is the Washington Capitals, who lost in a shootout to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday, 3-2. Washington did well to come back and gain a point after being flat for most of the first two periods.
Tampa Bay 3, Washington 2 (shootout)
What it means: The Lightning and Flyers are tied in the round-robin standings with two points. Washington has one. Boston zero.
How it happened: Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov scored in the shootout and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped two of three chances for Tampa Bay. Washington’s only shootout goal came off T.J. Oshie, who just continues to amaze in that format.
Worth noting: The Flyers play the Capitals on Thursday (time TBA). Philadelphia went 3-0-1 against the Capitals during the regular season, outscoring the Caps 15-6 in the final three games. The Flyers conclude their round-robin schedule on Saturday against Tampa Bay.
Showing some fight: Oshie initiated a fight with Tampa Bay’s Yanni Gourde which seemed to jolt his slumbering teammates. The fight itself was a draw, but within five minutes afterward, the Caps scored two goals to tie it late in the second period. Both goals came after Vasilevskiy lost the puck at his feet.
Quoting: “We were down 2-0 and we came back, so we showed our character,” said Richard Panik, a fourth-liner who scored Washington’s first goal. “Just from now on bring the `A’ game, bring our physicality and I think we’re going to be good.”
» READ MORE: Observations from Flyers win over Boston
Putting on the hits: This game was much more physical than Sunday’s round-robin contest between the Flyers and Bruins. In addition to the fight, there was plenty of post-whistle activity. Whereas Boston and the Flyers combined for 53 hits, Tampa Bay had 45, Washington had 44.
“We know we can play better. It’s kind of a wake-up call. That’s why we play those three games. Every game is going to be much harder and harder.”
Have a seat: Norris Trophy favorite John Carlson did not play. He took an awkward spill in the Capitals’ exhibition game on Wednesday. Old friend Radko Gudas took his spot in the lineup.
That looked familiar: Kucherov opened the scoring with a laser past goalie Braden Holtby’s shoulder. The Flyers scored three of their goals on Boston’s Jaroslav Halak on Sunday up high.
Our three stars: Kucherov , Point , Oshie The official three stars were Kucherov, Dmitry Orlov (Wash.), Ryan McDonagh (TB).
He said it: “I hate to beat a dead horse here, but there’s been a lot of complaints about the ice, and I’ve seen a lot of bouncing pucks. When they come out and shovel the snow, it really becomes obvious that they collect a lot of it. I think they’ve got to work on [making it better]. With all of these games being played, it’s tough on the crew, but somewhere along the line, it’s got to get better than this.” – NBC analyst Mike Milbury.