Flyers Drop Game in Final Minutes, Lose to Capitals 2-1 in OT

After a big win yesterday, the Philadelphia Flyers matched up again with the Washington Capitals, looking to finally put the nail in the Caps bid for first seed in the Massmutual East Division.

The first period opened in a way that may have had people expecting a high flying, penalty filled contest. Not even two minutes in, Ivan Provorov took a penalty. He must have had some choice words for the referee, earning himself an extra two, putting the Flyers a man down for four minutes. The Capitals Tom Wilson responded to this advantage by quickly hooking Sean Couturier, doing some of the Flyers’ job for them as the attention shifted to the goaltenders.

The Flyers’ Alex Lyon and the Capitals’ Craig Anderson were the story of the game for the first two frames. Both teams got several quality chances, but neither netminder seemed willing to give in, resulting in an initial period, as well as its follow-up, having a scoreless draw colored up on the scoreboard.

In fact the only major incidents in the first two frames surrounded the Flyers’ Nicolas Aube-Kubel, as he found himself on the giving end of a few Capitals injuries. The Capitals still are without many of their stars in these final few games, and a knee-on-knee collision between NAK and Wilson in the first period, and a relatively routine check on T.J. Oshie in the second is sure to have Capitals’ faithful sweating.

While Wilson would return to the game for the second period, and Oshie would not leave the bench in the second, NAK certainly seemed to be inflicting some damage on the suddenly injury riddled, playoff bound Capitals team. Going into the third period Oshie would not return to the bench, leaving the Capitals without one of their hottest forwards.

The goose-eggs would break in the final period when Scott Laughton would unleash an absolute rocket that took everyone by surprise, including the Caps goaltender. Laughton potted his ninth goal of the season with little fanfare, surprising even JJ and Scotty in the booth who didn’t realize Laughton’s shot went bar down and in, as opposed to missing the net entirely.

Needless to say, in a contest that included a handful of injuries, tensions were high, especially after the Flyers broke the scoreless tie. While no fights came of it, Sam Morin found himself involved with the Garnet Hathaway and Zdeno Chara. That prompted Phil Myers to come in as Morin’s backup. This would send Morin, Myers, Hathaway, and Daniel Sprong to the box. The refs opted for conicidentals as opposed to the much more fun 3-on-3.

As those penalties expired, the teams seemed hungry for the open ice they were denied, as a Joel Farabee “holding the stick” penalty clearly got under the skin of the Capitals trade deadline acquisition Anthony Mantha. He took a couple of shots at Farabee, earning them both a pair in the sin bin, and some 4-on-4 hockey for everyone watching.

Brenden Dillon would also find the box in the third, when he tripped Travis Konecny well after the play was blown dead. In tune with the rest of the game, Hathaway couldn’t let a scrum happen without him, face-washing Couturier with his glove and elbow though he would survive unpenalized.

The Flyers powerplay seemed more like a penalty kill, as constant miscues ended up in more chances for Washington than Philly. Lyon put on a clinic though, managing to stop a number of high quality Capitals chances when shorthanded, and after the Flyers powerplay would expire.

This last minute Caps press would give the Capitals a powerplay in the final minutes, and the Flyers certainly looked anything but prepared. The Caps managed a number of high quality chances, and a tired Flyers PK couldn’t muster a clear. Though Lyon would melt down the powerplay, the Lars Eller would sneak one past Lyon in the final minute, tying the game and sending everyone to extras.

And the overtime period would spell the end. After four minutes of fairly even chances, it would be Conor Sheary who would win the game on a soft shot that trickled through Lyon, handing the Flyers the loss.

Lyon put together a fantastic game, and it’s really a shame that the final few minutes of both periods would be their un-doing. Lyon deserved better, and while the Anderson deserves the nod, you can’t help but feel bad for Lyon this late in the season

With nothing left to play for, the Flyers are going to be taking it home to the Wells Fargo Center on Monday looking to cap of this miserable season with a win against the New Jersey Devils.