Flyers beat Capitals 3-1; Secure first preseason win

In the third of six preseason bouts for the Flyers, they finally dressed what appears to be their opening night lineup outside of Carter Hart against a watered down Washington Capitals squad. Rasmus Ristolainen and Martin Jones made their Wells Fargo Center debuts and the Flyers were able to capture their first win of the preseason and build chemistry within the roster.

1st Period

Seeing that the Flyers dressed what is essentially their opening night lineup I definitely expected them to have more jump to start this one; and in the beginning they did until Oskar Lindblom would take a tripping penalty just 1:35 into the first period resulting in a powerplay goal by Washington’s Aliaksei Protas.

Shortly after the Flyers got a powerplay of their own and Claude Giroux rifled home a beautiful one-timer for the equalizer. The captain snatched that momentum right back.

Tensions started rising and both teams were playing physical as the period went on and it all started with a center ice hit on Giroux that the Flyers immediately responded too. The aggression shown from the Flyers in this game and period was the most satisficing part of all, anytime a Flyer got hit I saw multiple bodies flocking to respond especially Ristolainen, Yandle, and Konecny. I saw Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee get into a post whistle scuffle as well.

2nd Period

The second period began with the Couturier line absolutely buzzing and getting the better of the Capitals until a ticky tack cross-checking penalty on Konecny. Giroux had a ton of energy in this game and was constantly in the mix grinding for chances and doing his normal finesse work.

Atkinson had himself a good period and the chemistry between him, Brassard, and Lindblom appears to coming along nicely. Atkinson was also sprung on a breakaway but got denied twice by Samsonov who had himself a great period.

For the most part the period dragged on and it was a lot of back and forth neutral zone hockey, Frost and Farabee had a couple little connections though. The Flyers cut to intermission during the second period due to a power outage.

3rd Period

Lindblom-Brassard-Atkinson made their stamp just two minutes into the frame scoring the go-ahead goal on a Lindblom feed to Atkinson that was able to squeak in.

The Flyers began to take control and the Couturier line continued their dominant night. James Van Riemsdyk had a nice pass to Farabee for a one-timer that just went wide, great to see that duo creating chances together again.

Provorov and Hathaway got into it with each other and almost began to fight when Derick Brassard came in to assist, another example of veteran presence adding bite to the lineup.

Laughton iced the game on a five-hole tuck off a breakaway spring pass from Aube-Kubel. Scotty Laughts remains unreal on breakaways.

Martin Jones stopped 21 shots out of 22 and the only goal he allowed was just three minutes into the first period.

Quick Hits

  • Ristolanien throwing the body in this one was refreshing to see as was the physicality from the team as a whole.
  • Giroux was ON ONE in this game and looks fired up for the season. Giroux-Couturier-TK looked amazing as always.
  • Lindblom-Brassard-Atkinson really is a treat to watch, they all just play the game the right way.
  • Morgan Frost scored in the practice shootout following the game and had himself a solid game.
  • Martin Jones had himself a nice little bounce back from the first period in Boston on Thursday.
  • How is Laughton so good at breakaways?

Next up: Boston on Monday. (7PM/NBCSP)

Mandatory Credit: Zack Hill

A Host on @TheLibertyYell and a contributor to @TheLibertyLine.

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