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Philadelphia Flyers Struggle With Braden Holtby in Loss vs Capitals

By Benjamin Gabrych

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: Philadelphia Flyers left wing James van Riemsdyk (25) leaps out of the way of second period shot against Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby (70) on March 24, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 24: Philadelphia Flyers left wing James van Riemsdyk (25) leaps out of the way of second period shot against Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby (70) on March 24, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia Flyers faced the Washington Capitals in the second half of back-to-back games with Metropolitan Division teams.

Needing every win possible to keep their ever so slim playoff hopes alive, the Philadelphia Flyers hit the road to take on the Washington Capitals in their final meeting of the 2018-19 campaign.

Brian Elliott got the call from Interim Head Coach Scott Gordon and opposed Braden Holtby in-net. Holtby had a 2.94 Goals-Against Average with a .907 save percentage coming into the matchup. The Flyers had to bring more effort and energy than they did in their last contest if they wanted any opportunity at a victory over Washington.

The Capitals got out to a quick lead early, taking a one goal lead over the Flyers on a goal from Tom Wilson. Wilson put an honestly nice re-direct on a shot from the point, giving Elliott hardly any chance to make the save. Philadelphia went on to take two penalties in the first period alone but, thanks in large part to Elliott, were able to kill both off and keep the score at 1-0.

You couldn’t deny the Flyers brought the energy I was looking for throughout the second period, outshooting the Capitals by a whopping 16-6 margin. While Washington did get another goal in the stanza on a shot from Travis Boyd, Jakub Voracek helped the Flyers avoid being shutout by their in-division rival as he scored on one of the three power-play opportunities they received in the period to make it a 2-1 game after 40 minutes of work.

Philadelphia got their fourth power play of the day to start the third and did everything but score with Holtby standing tall to keep the Capital lead at one. That failed man advantage would come back and haunt the Flyers in the form of Jakub Vrana’s 22nd goal of the year to eventually give the Capitals a 3-1 win.

This was a classic example of the Flyers running into a hot goaltender. Holtby was completely on his game for most of, if not, the whole contest. Sure, Philadelphia could’ve tightened things up defensively, but surrendering three goals against this type of an offense surely gave them the chance to win, they just couldn’t solve Holtby more than once.

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The Flyers are now 36-32-8 on the season. Next game is Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

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