Flyers Lose 6-1 to Capitals
In the Flyers first game after being sellers at the trade deadline, it was clearly shown why they were sellers.
The Flyers were blown out by the first place Washington Capitals 6-1 in a very pitiful effort from Philadelphia. Virtually ending any small chance the Flyers had at making any playoff run. The Flyers fell to 19-17-6 with 44 points after Tuesday's loss and are now 6 points behind the Bruins for the fourth playoff spot in the East division. Sean Couturier had the lone goal for the Flyers, and that is about all the good I have to say about this one. In the words of Keith Jones last night, " This season has turned into a disaster ", and he could not be more right.
The contest got ugly fast, as the Capitals finished the first 20 minutes with a 4-1 lead. Conor Sheary started the scoring 7 minutes into the period. Couturier then responded with a goal 1 minute later, showing some life and heart for the Flyers, but that lasted for about 3 minutes. Two power plays in a row for the Capitals lead to goals by Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom on each of the power plays, making it a 3-1 contest late in the first period. Carl Hagelin then finished the Flyers off at the end of the period to make it 4-1 Capitals heading into the intermission.
In the second period, recently acquired at the trade deadline for the Capitals Anthony Mantha scored his first tally in a Washington uniform, finishing off a pass from TJ Oshie and past the glove of Brian Elliott. It was a rough night in goal for Moose, letting in 6 goals obviously hurts, and having a save percentage of .813% does not help much as well. The Flyers defense continues to not do the goalies favors however, with turnover after turnover in the middle of the ice, the Capitals found themselves with many odd-man rushes and easy entries into the zone during power plays. The second period ended 5-1 and the Flyers looked for a big third period from the offense, per usual.
The Flyers did not find any goals in the third period, nor find any real momentum to spark any kind of late game comeback. An early power play in the period lead to Alex Ovechkin netting his 22nd goal of the short season and the third power play goal for the Capitals on the night, 5 minutes into the third period. Any shots the Flyers did get off, Capitals goalie Ilya Samsonov was ready for, saving 29 of the 30 shots he faced from the Flyers. The game ended 6-1 and the Flyers social media released the typical statement from the coaches and the players saying "We're onto Pittsburg".
It was an abysmal game from start to finish to watch and eventually became laughable at the end as the game perfectly represented our season. It is clearly evident that GM Chuck Fletcher will have a lot of work to do this summer to fix this team because currently constructed they do not work at all. Keith Jones also described this team as "...can't be fixed overnight, nor in weeks." to describe the rebuild this team will have to undergo this summer. Fletcher already came out this week and said there will not be any coaching changes this summer, which will be interesting to see if he keeps his word to that. The Flyers now go to face the Penguins on the road on Thursday night, with only 14 games left on the season.