Epic Flyers Comeback Goes to Waste in Loss vs. Capitals

There was some good, some bad, and some ugly in the 6-3 loss the Philadelphia Flyers lost in the second leg of their back-to-back matchup with the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

A series of brutal plays from Ivan Fedotov and the Flyers’ defense forced the Orange and Black into a 4-0 hole very early in the second period after taking a much more manageable 1-0 deficit into the first intermission.

Goals from Nic Dowd and Connor McMichael gave the Capitals three goals in just 4:27, but Fedotov stayed in the net and the Flyers kept playing on.

And then the spirited comeback started.

All-Star winger Travis Konecny kicked things off with his third goal of the year, a short-side power play snipe over the left shoulder of Capitals goalie Logan Thompson. At that point in the game, the Flyers were trailing in shots on goal 10-9, but the score was already a lopsided 4-0.

Until Konecny scored.

Konecny did not celebrate his goal all that much, and given the context of the game and how the team has performed, it makes sense.

Just over four minutes later, Owen Tippett got the monkey off his back with his first goal of the year. And though it was less impressive than Konecny’s, Tippett’s goal was a goal-scorer’s goal.

The 25-year-old picked up the puck along the left wall, spun quickly, and threw a half-hearted attempt towards Thompson. With Sean Couturier providing some traffic in front, Thompson never picked up Tippett’s shot.

At 4-2, the game was suddenly interesting again.

Early in the third period, after Jamie Drysdale drew a tripping penalty from Pierre-Luc Dubois, the Flyers were given another golden chance to strike on the power play with a 4-on-3 opportunity.

Star rookie Matvei Michkov, who leads the Flyers with three goals and seven points in seven games, took advantage of another Couturier screen.

After Drysdale circled the Capitals’ penalty kill unit like a shark, Tippett dished to Michkov, who waited longingly at the point to receive the puck. The 19-year-old took care of the rest, taking advantage of the open ice, cutting inside, and shooting over Thompson’s blocker with some help from Couturier.

Now the score was 4-3 with over 13 minutes remaining. The Capitals were shell-shocked, and the Flyers looked, for all the world, like they had the gusto to come back and win. Game on.

The Flyers had a number of additional scoring chances in the period, including Morgan Frost’s failed wraparound that hit Thompson’s skate instead of the gaping space between the Capitals goalie and the post.

With Fedotov pulled for the extra attacker, Drysdale and the Flyers again found themselves in an unfavorable situation.

Forced to retreat towards the defensive zone with possession, Drysdale peeled back and attempted to pass across the zone to his left, where defenseman Egor Zamula originally postured to receive a pass.

The problem was that Zamula looked away and hopped off for a line change, and Drysdale had already passed the puck. Dubois picked up the ricochet and deposited into the empty net from long range.

That was just one of Zamula’s many miscues in a mistake-riddled start to the season; Zamula was also beaten for inside positioning by Capitals forward Taylor Raddysh, who deflected a pass from Dylan McIlrath to open the scoring in the first period.

With Fedotov pulled again with just over one minute remaining, Tippett turned the puck over along the wall after being closed down by Dylan Strome.

Strome then alertly hoofed the puck down the ice with Alex Ovechkin ready to skate onto it. Drysdale couldn’t chase Ovechkin down quick enough, and The Great 8 added another goal to his resume as he chases Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record.

Tippett skated by and lashed at the puck sitting in his net, while Drysdale took a two-handed whack at the crossbar and exploded his stick with aplomb and frustration.

Head coach John Tortorella insisted after the game that there was no frustration boiling over, but if Drysdale and Tippett’s reactions say anything, the opposite is true.

The Flyers are 1-5-1 with no end to the six-game losing streak in sight.