FINAL: Flyers 5-1 Loss vs. Capitals Game Thread

The Philadelphia Flyers take on the Washington Capitals in some preseason action at the Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania – the home of the Hershey Bears.

I figured I would try something a little different this preseason and see how it goes and how it is received. At Philly Hockey Now, we do not have a specific message board community, but we do have a comment section! For tonight’s game, I wanted to give this concept a go.

In place of a message board for a live thread talking about tonight’s game, we’ll use the comment section on this post instead. I will update this post as the night goes on. So, let’s get into some of tonight’s information.

Here is the roster:

Projected Lines for Thursday’s Contest

Forwards
Alex Bump – Noah Cates – Travis Konecny
Nikita Grebenkin – Jett Luchanko – Owen Tippett
Denver Barkey – Jack Nesbitt – Devin Kaplan
Nic Deslauriers – Jacob Gaucher – Rodrigo Abols

Defensemen
Cam York – Helge Grans
Adam Ginning – Yegor Zamula
Dennis Gilbert – Noah Juulsen

Goalies
Dan Vladar (One period)
Aleksei Kolosov

Pucl drop is at 7:00 p.m. EST. The game will be aired on NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus, as well as the radio broadcast on 97.5 The Fanatic.

Read More: PhHN Daily: Flyers in Hershey; Should VGK Say No on Hart?

Live In-Game Updates

Tonight’s lines and pairs:

Period 1

Vladar and Stevenson start in net. Cates’ line starts for the Flyers, D. Strome’s line starts for the Caps.

Noah Juulsen got called for kneeing, a two-minute minor, which the Flyers killed 1:40 of, before Andrew Cristall buried the power-play goal.

Travis Konecny led a nice short-handed rush, but Cam York took the shot and couldn’t finish it; instead, it went the other way. The Capitals held sustained pressure against the Flyers’ PK. Cristall scored with just 20 seconds remaining on the man-advantage.

Goal: (8:11) 28 Andre Cristall, assisted by 29 LaPierre and 47Chisolm. 1-0 Capitals

During Ginning’s penalty, the Flyers had both Jett Luchanko and Owen Tippett on the penalty kill. Both players with blazing speed should put opposing teams on shorty watch. You could see Tippett trying to break one free. Instead, he stayed home.

Period 2

Aleksei Kolosov takes over in goal for the Flyers to start the second period. Stevenson remains in goal for the Capitals.

Goal: (9:50) 63 Ivan Miroshinchenko, assisted by 17 D. Strome and 38 Sandin. 2-0 Capitals

As that goal was scored, I was in the middle of writing that Kolosov has looked very, very sharp in the second period.

Goal: (11:13) 15 Sonny Milano, assisted by 2 Iorio and 29 LaPierre. 3-0 Capitals

Goal: (15:51) 78 Jacob Gaucher, assisted by 18 Abols and 13 Ginning. 3-1 Capitals

The horn sounds after the second period as the Capitals take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission. Rasmus Sandin sent a late shot toward the net, which hit Cates in the leg. Cates is fine, but it caught the attention of Travis Konecny and Cam York, both of whom are wearing “As” tonight. The two sides mixed it up before the dust settled, and the teams went to their locker rooms.

Period 3

Yikes.

Goal: (1:07) 24 Connor McMichael, unassisted. 4-1 Capitals

Not a good look from the Flyers’ young power play group.

A comment earlier said the Flyers look “uninterested”. That feels like the perfect adjective to describe the way this game looks. Though there are certainly a few exceptions, and Nikita Grebenkin is one of them. In his first shift after that short-handed goal, he has been playing with edge and physicality. Honestly, it looks like he’s skating with anger.

Dylan McIlrath hammered a shot past Kolosov from the blueline. Fortunately for the Flyers, it was called offside. The game remains 4-1. Just an ugly showing from the Flyers in the third. Kolosov has not received much help from the defense, but this has easily been his worst showing so far.

Sonny Milano nets his second of the game, giving the Capitals the 5-1 lead. That would be the final score.