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Caps fall flat against the Flyers in Philly: Flyers beat Capitals 2-1

By Chris Cerullo

 2 Comments

February 26, 2022 3:06 pm

The Capitals were not good against the Rangers in their comeback game from a week off. They looked to get back on track against the Flyers in Philadelphia, Saturday.

Claude Giroux scored the opening goal before I could even tweet about nets being crashed. Cam Atkinson roofed a loose puck to put Philly up two. TJ Oshie got the power play on the board with a snipe to cut the lead in half.

Flyers beat Capitals 2-1.

  • The first period was horrible but that’s been the trend lately with this team. At five-on-five they were out-attempted 26-9, out-scoring chanced 10-3, and out-high danger chanced 4-1. You just do not win a lot of hockey games playing like that, especially when your special teams is the way it is for the Caps.
  • Isn’t it “funny” how we’ve seen the same play get called literally three different ways recently? I’m referring to the whole instigator or non-instigator call for fights. Josh Brown of the Senators got nothing additional for his offense on Tom Wilson, Trevor van Riemsdyk got the full 2+5+10 treatment, and now Zack MacEwen just gets an extra roughing minor. NHL officiating, y’all.
  • Ilya Samsonov left warmups early, throwing Caps Twitter into a storm. He would eventually return and start the game by giving up a goal 11 seconds in. This isn’t the first time Sammy has left mysteriously as he did in November against the Panthers in a game that saw all four dressed goaltenders make an appearance.

  • A far, far, far better second period which has to make you very frustrated that they spotted the Flyers two goals in that bad first. The full defensive effort was better and they were creating chances both with their cycle and on the rush. Probably deserved to leave forty minutes with the game tied.
  • TJ Oshie is back and has immediately scored a power-play goal from his bumper spot in the slot. He is just such a key player for this team in so many ways. Please stay healthy, Teej.
  • That power-play goal and the penalty kill work to not give the Flyers a single shot on a five-on-three for about a minute were really encouraging. I’ve been burned already this season thinking maybe those two units were turning around so I’m wary but hopeful.
  • What do you guys think about this upcoming trade deadline? What are the moves you think 100-percent need to happen?

  • The Flyers were actively turtleing the entire third period. They iced the puck what seemed to be 10-plus times alone in the final frame. Unfortunately, the Caps just didn’t do much with all of their puck possession. Carter Hart wasn’t challenged enough as I think they were looking for the extra pass far too much. Only two goals in the last two games.
  • The Caps had won 5 straight on the road in Philly before this loss which was a franchise record. Shame.
  • I thought Samsonov was actually excellent in this game outside of that opening shocker. He made several really, really tough stops to keep the Caps within striking distance.

Next up for the Caps are the Toronto Maple Leafs for the first time since October of 2019. Auston Matthews’ league-leading 36 goals will be in town.

Headline photo courtesy of @real_jon_c/Twitter

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