Flyers’ rally falls short but coach says ‘it’s a step in the right direction’

Nick Seeler

      WASHINGTON – Maybe they didn’t win this game but at least the Flyers put up a decent fight on Wednesday night after falling behind by a substantial amount.

      Trailing by a 4-0 score, the Flyers created an inspired rally. The comeback came up just short in a 6-3 defeat by Washington at Capital One Arena. The Caps scored two empty-net goals in the final minutes to make the ultimate score look more one-sided than it really was.

      That outcome gave the Capitals a sweep of a back-to-back set, which began with Washington’s 4-1 victory in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.

      The Flyers’ record fell to 1-5-1. Their lone win came on opening night, Oct. 11, in a shootout victory at Vancouver.

      Down by a 4-0 score early in the second period, the Flyers came roaring back to get a pair of goals and nearly added a third in that frame.

      Then they did close the margin to one at 6:36 of the third period when Matvei Michkov scored on the power play. But Washington’s Pierre-Luc Dubois scored into an empty net with 2:12 left to ice it and Alex Ovechkin added a sixth goal with 1:10 to play.

      It’s safe to say there was a bit of heightened emotion on the Flyer bench when the scoreboard read: Capitals 4, Flyers 0.

      “I mean obviously you’re frustrated,” Nick Seeler said after the game. “But I think this group sticks together. We showed that in the third. I thought we were going to come back and we were just a goal short.

      “But I thought we showed a lot of life. That’s a good sign moving forward.”

      Coach John Tortorella liked the way his team fought back. Perhaps this game will be a turning point.

      “Yeah, we showed some life,” he said. “We started forechecking. At least the second half of the game is a step in the right direction.”

      Washington scored three times in the first 7:16 of the second period and it looked like this might become a rout.

      Nic Dowd started the burst with a goal at 2:49. Then Connor McMichael notched a pair, the first on a breakaway at 4:04 and the second just moments later.

      At that point, the Flyers appeared out of it.

      But not so fast.

      A Flyers power play resulted in a wide-angle goal off the stick of Travis Konecny at 12:04. His shot eluded goalie Logan Thompson.

      Then Owen Tippett shot from the left circle and found the back of the net at 16:16.

      Just two minutes later, Morgan Frost set sail on a clean breakaway. He put the puck between Thompson’s pads and thought he had a goal at 18:18. But the play went to replay and the review showed the goalie stopped the puck just before it crossed the line.

      That play notwithstanding, the Flyers at least showed some life when it appeared they had almost given up.

      “We’ve still got some work to do,” Tortorella said. “But we started getting more (offensive) zone time. I thought we did some good things away from the puck, too.”

      While the Flyers were hoping to get off to a fast start in this game, it was the Capitals who scored first.

      Washington needed only 4:50 to get a puck past Ivan Fedotov. Dylan McIlrath unloaded a shot from the right point which was deflected into the net by fourth-line right wing Taylor Raddysh.

      The Flyers managed only one shot through the first 16 minutes of the period. They picked up a few more in the closing minutes but none were of the threatening variety.

      Tippett finally got his first goal of the season in game seven and that had to provide some relief.

      “It’s the one that’s unexpected that kind of breaks the seal,” he said. “It feels good. We just had to be more disciplined after the last couple games. It’s just a matter of being more disciplined and being there for one another.”

      Added Jamie Drysdale: “I think we just had to wake up. When we started getting pucks behind them, we started getting chances and wearing them down. We probably had 30 minutes of that tonight. We needed a full 60.”

      >Short shots

      The Flyers are off until Saturday, when they begin another set of back-to-back games. They play host to Minnesota in an afternoon game, then come back to the Wells Fargo Center to host the Montreal Canadiens on Sunday night.

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About Wayne Fish 2701 Articles
Wayne Fish has been covering the Flyers since 1976, a stint which includes 18 Stanley Cup Finals, four Winter Olympics and numerous other international events.