Three Standout Players For Flyers In Win Over Capitals

These three players stood out the most for the Philadelphia Flyers in their win vs the Washington Capitals.

Returning home following a long and mostly disappointing road trip, the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Washington Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center in what was their second meeting of 2019-20. Philly came away with just three of a possible 12 points during that six-game roadie and went into this Metropolitan Division clash riding a four-game losing streak, as well. Carter Hart got the start from Head Coach Alain Vigneault in-net, opposing Braden Holtby on the opposite end of the ice. Mark Friedman also made his way into the lineup after being called up from Lehigh Valley this afternoon and came in for Shayne Gostisbehere, who’s dealing with a knee injury.

Gang, I’m happy to inform you that All-Star Travis Konecny is still fully on his B.S. The Flyers winger scored his second early first-period goal in the same amount of games, beating Holtby close-in to give his side a 1-0 lead. Sean Couturier made a tremendous play to set TK up, forcing Nic Jenson to create a turnover in his own end and finding Konecny for the goal near the crease. Washington would get it back, though, because they hate fun, as Tom Wilson took advantage of a giveaway from Travis Sanheim and connected with Nicklas Backstrom in the slot to knot everything up at one apiece. While it was scored from a dangerous area, this was a shot Hart should’ve stopped given the low amount of velocity it had.

That wasn’t the only mistake Hart made in the frame, either, letting up a rebound on a seemingly harmless point shot that eventually materialized into a goal from Jakub Vrana and a 2-1 lead for the Capitals. The Flyers found an equalizer of their own late in the frame thanks to a one time blast from Robert Hagg, making it a 2-2 affair following 20 minutes of action.

Washington turned on the pressure in the second, keeping the Flyers in the defensive zone for solid chunks of time while putting shot after shot on Hart. The Orange and Black struggled to generate any offense during the middle stanza for that reason, failing to register a shot-on-goal until the 6:40 mark. Luckily, one of the few chances they did create turned into a goal due to the efforts of Kevin Hayes on a shorthanded breakaway to gift Philadelphia a 3-2 going into the third.

Mimicking what their Metropolitan adversaries did in the second, the Flyers put the heat on Holtby in the beginning stages of the third, applying five shots on the former fourth-round selection through the opening six minutes of the frame. Washington would get their share of chances in the stanza, too, thanks in large part to two of their five power-play opportunities coming in the third. However, the Capitals couldn’t get it done where it mattered most and fell to Philadelphia by a score of 3-2. The Flyers avoided a five-game losing skid with a win in this one and kick-started a two-game point streak, too.

He’s been on my standouts list before, and he’ll more than likely be on here again, but Konecny had himself one heck of a game tonight, which we’ve grown accustomed to seeing from him this season. Our All-Star extended his goal-streak to two with another tally to begin the game and is now in sole possession of first on the Flyers in the same category with 14 on the year. The shot he used to get by Holtby was a sneakily impressive one, too, as he got an excellent amount of lift on the puck in such a short distance to find the top corner. TK was arguably the Flyers’ most effective offensive threat in this contest, but the next player I’m about to mention definitely give him a run for his money.

Another guy who’s found himself among my standouts a lot this year, Hollywood Hayes was his usual self in all three zones for the Flyers tonight. He was one of the main reasons why the Capitals power-play went 0-for-3 on the game this evening, clearing the puck in critical moments and putting himself in the correct position to break plays up, as we saw on his shorthanded tally.

Speaking of that goal, my good was there a lot to like about it. I already mentioned the read he made to spring himself for the breakaway opportunity, but you don’t see a whole lot of players turn around and look to see where the opposing players are behind them on the play to garner how long they’ll have to make a play.

Hayes did that and it paid off because the forehand to backhand move he put on Holtby made the Washington goaltender look like a real jabroni, which hasn’t happened too often on the 30-year-old’s career. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the addition of Hayes was one of, if not the best transaction Chuck Fletcher made this offseason, as the 6’5 center has paid dividends for Philly with his play throughout the year.

Lastly, I have to give Hart a nod for his work between the pipes. After coughing up two goals on eight shots in the first, the 2016 second-rounder rebounded by saving all 20 shots he saw in the final two periods. He single-handedly kept the team alive through most of the second, making quality saves left-and-right to frustrate an always dangerous Capitals offense. It was great to see Hart put a lousy period of hockey behind him and help the team walk away with a W over a formidable opponent in Washington.

The Flyers are now 23-15-6 on the year. Next game is Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.