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GIF Rewind: Flyers show some fight but can’t complete comeback against Capitals

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Andy Andreoff Fight

The Philadelphia Flyers put up a fight – literally –, but they couldn’t complete another multi-goal comeback this week. They fell to the Capitals by a final score of 5-3.

The Flyers’ defensive struggles continued in this one. But we’ve heard that before.

Travis Sanheim took an early penalty in front of the net, putting the Capitals on a power play just 91 seconds into the game.

Fortunately, Brian Elliott came up big on Alex Ovechkin a few times to keep the game scoreless.

He got across here for a big save late in the power play.

 

Unfortunately, Ovechkin would not remain silent.

After Sean Couturier mishandled the puck, Elliott’s pass to Ivan Provorov appeared to catch the defenseman off-guard. The puck bounced off the wall to a speeding Ovechkin.

He blasted it past Justin Braun and Elliott to open the scoring.

 

The Flyers got it back on their first power play of the game, however. Less than three minutes later, Travis Konecny scored on his birthday.

Kevin Hayes, who already one-timed a shot off iron on a similar play,  passed it to Konecny in the slot.

 

He wanted that one.

 

Once again, the Flyers allowed a goal shortly after scoring. It took less than two minutes for the Capitals to retake the lead.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel tried to get the puck to Travis Sanheim, but the Capitals took over and fed Conor Sheary.

 

Sheary split the defense with Erik Gustafsson out too far wide and it trickled through Elliott.

 

Alain Vigneault wasn’t happy.

 

The Flyers needed some energy, and Andy Andreoff provided it. He dropped the gloves with Garnet Hathaway with 2:45 left in the period.

 

He got a few good shots in.

 

The bench was fired up. Scott Laughton especially enjoyed it.

 

The Flyers trailed 2-1 after one period of play.

The Capitals were the better team in the first period and that was even more evident in the second. The Flyers couldn’t get any sort of sustained pressure going and only had five shots in the frame.

On top of that, they still weren’t playing well defensively.

John Carlson made it 3-1 Capitals after no one picked him up on an odd-man rush.

 

Jakub Voracek had passed it into the slot from the corner, which the Capitals picked up and took the other way to score.

The Capitals had the better of the play for nearly the entire period. They finally broke it open after a bounce in front.

Nic Dowd skated through Sanheim and the puck bounced in off of Gostisbehere’s skate.

 

That made it 4-1 Capitals late in the second period.

The second period ended abruptly with 1:29 left in the frame. The curved glass near the bench was broken, so the 89 seconds were tacked onto the third period.

Ironically enough, the Flyers’ best chances of the second period came in that leftover 1:29.

The second period ended with matching minors on Zdeno Chara and Konecny.

They didn’t look like equal infractions to me.

But the Flyers took advantage anyway. During 4-on-4 play, Couturier got into the zone and patiently set up Provorov with a pass.

The defenseman got the Flyers back within two goals.

Scott Laughton continued the comeback with a snipe after a nice passing play by his line.

The Flyers were back within one goal with half of the third period to play.

They got another late power play, but couldn’t convert.

The Capitals hit the empty net with 27 seconds remaining to ice the game.

The Flyers and Capitals play again on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.

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Ryan is a proud graduate of Monmouth University. He has covered the Philadelphia Flyers for the better part of a decade at various outlets, including Sons of Penn and Broad Street Hockey. Ryan has also worked for NHL.com and NBC Sports Regional Networks. Whether it's a GIF, quick stat, analysis, or long-form column, he's got you covered.

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