GIF Rewind: Too little, too late as Flyers can’t complete comeback yet again

The Philadelphia Flyers only lost by one goal on Saturday night, but the score didn’t represent how the game went. The final score was 5-4 thanks to two late goals by the Flyers: one on the power play and one with the goalie pulled.

It was too little, too late yet again for the Flyers against the Capitals.

First Period

Ivan Provorov had a bad turnover on his first shift of the game, leading to a shot by Alex Ovechkin that he recovered to get a piece of. On the following shift, Travis Konecny took a puck to the face in the neutral zone.

Those were signs of things to come.

The new-look third line of Jakub Voracek, Claude Giroux, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel got an early scoring chance, but Ilya Samsonov kicked out his pad to make the save.

The Capitals came down the ice on a few dangerous rushes, including an odd-man situation against Nate Prosser. They didn’t score, but it wasn’t good.

Prosser obviously isn't the biggest issue with this team right now, but it's the tip of the iceberg. He's playing because the defensemen in front of him are playing poorly and that's a part of a larger problem.

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) March 14, 2021

The new fourth line with Oskar Lindblom, Nolan Patrick, and Andy Andreoff also started out the game with a strong shift. Then it went downhill.

Patrick turned the puck over in the neutral zone and the Capitals came down the ice and scored. Brian Elliott couldn’t control a rebound and it bounced over his shoulder and into the net.

Patrick’s struggles continued on his next shift, but Washington didn’t capitalize this time.

The Flyers got a power play after Shayne Gostisbehere drew an interference penalty, but they couldn’t score. They finally got the puck on net in the waning seconds, but Patrick couldn’t jam it home.

Then, the Capitals made it a two-goal game.

The Flyers turned the puck over at their own blue line and the Capitals made them pay. A harmless shot from the point was stopped by Elliott, but Carl Hagelin poked home the rebound.

The Flyers were the slower team in the first period as they waited for the puck. The Capitals took advantage of their poor defense and play with the puck.

The Capitals are also victimizing the Flyers with some high flips out of the zone. The Flyers defense is bad, especially recently, and Washington is capitalizing on that.

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) March 14, 2021

The Capitals didn’t dominate the first period, but they were clearly the better team.

The Flyers are playing poorly, but with average goaltending, this would probably still be a scoreless game. Instead, due to Hart's struggles and need to ride Elliott a bit too much, the Flyers are down 2-0 after one period of play.

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) March 14, 2021

Second Period

The Flyers looked much better in the second period than the first. They came out with some urgency. Philippe Myers made a good pinch early on, and the second line had a good scoring chance off a bad change by the Capitals.

Jakub Voracek looked particularly engaged as he rushed up the ice through multiple Capitals.

Then, the Flyers finally struck.

Sean Couturier worked behind the net and got a shot on. The rebound bounced to a Capital, but his clearing attempt was picked off by James van Riemsdyk.

JVR turned and fired a shot past Ilya Samsonov for the Flyers’ first goal of the game.

Unfortunately, the Capitals got the goal right back less than a minute after the Flyers scored.

Nick Jensen beat Shayne Gostisbehere and Nate Prosser to a puck and beat Brian Elliott.

That was the last shot Elliott would face as Carter Hart replaced him.

Hart came in cold, but he quickly heated up to keep the Flyers in it.

The Flyers made it a one-goal game again thanks to Nolan Patrick. Patrick, playing on the third line now, blasted home a pass from Voracek.

Everyone was so happy for him. You love to see it.

They nearly tied it up right after that, but Samsonov made a pair of great saves on JVR and Joel Farabee to keep it a one-goal game.

The Flyers got a power play after a cycle in the offensive zone, but it was quickly negated after Sanheim took a holding penalty. Patrick had passed the puck up the boards, but Sanheim had jumped into the play.

Then, the Flyers’ defensive play went from bad to worse after Justin Braun failed to clear on the penalty kill. He had a clean chance and just gave it to Alex Ovechkin, who eventually scored.

That gave the Capitals a 4-2 lead that they took into intermission. The Flyers had some scoring chances late in the period, but nothing came of them.

It was a better period for the Flyers, but that wasn't really that hard after the first frame. They'll need another strong third-period effort to try to come back from a multi-goal deficit again this week.

— Ryan Gilbert (@RGilbertSOP) March 14, 2021

Third Period

The Flyers had a good shift or two before the Capitals appeared to put the game away.

Garnet Hathaway fired a shot on net with Nic Dowd in front and the puck trickled through Hart to make it a 5-2 game.

That pretty much deflated the Flyers until the latter stages of the period.

Gostisbehere got the Flyers back within two goals on the power play. It was another good setup by Couturier.

Then, with Hart pulled for the extra attacker just after the four-minute mark, Giroux made it a one-goal game.

When the Flyers turn it on, they turn it on. They scored two quick goals and were looking for another one to tie it up.

Unfortunately, that never came. Gostisbehere did his best to keep it a one-goal game in the final minute.

The Flyers couldn’t find the final goal and lost 5-4.