Photo: X/@Capitals
The Washington Capitals once again had one of those games where they did a lot of good things to win, in their 4-3 shootout loss against the Philadelphia Flyers, but they couldn’t come away with two points. Washington controlled play for 40 minutes, however the home team started to flip the script after the Caps got in some penalty trouble.
“I liked our start, I liked our second period, I thought we put ourselves in a good position heading into the third period. [The] power play scores a big goal… We give up the second goal, not a great coverage scenario for us, but then we score relatively quickly right after that to regain the lead,” Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery said after the loss. “Then after that, I thought the game fell apart. I thought we didn’t manage the game very well at all, made some uncharacteristic mistakes, started to do things that we haven’t done all year playing with the lead.”
The Capitals have points in four straight games and fall to 14-8-4 on the season. Here is what stood out.
Penalties Lead To Momentum Shift; Missed Coverage Leads To Goals
The Capitals had a tough time staying out of the penalty box all night, and it eventually caught up to them. The penalty kill was outstanding, going 5-for-5 and having to kill off an early two-man advantage. However, after the Caps killed off the 5-on-3, the Flyers started to tilt the ice and it was a matter of time before they would score.
The crowd was getting into it and Charlie Lindgren had to come up with a lot of big saves to keep the Caps in the game. Then Washington got lazy in front of the net and Joel Farabee took advantage with a nice wraparound tally. Three Capitals players were behind the net, and the Caps were put on their heels for the rest of the game.
Joel Farabee comes out of the scrum with the puck and wraps one home, knotting up the score at 2!#LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/g3EkAQyMVH
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) December 15, 2023
“I thought our puck play for the most part was pretty good, but you just have to be smart in some dangerous situations,” Carbery said. “The one is a coverage situation where we just leave the net front open, and we’re not layered up there which exposes us there.”
Failed Clears; Not Enough Interior Presence
The Capitals had a difficult time getting traffic in front of the net. This was primarily due to the stingy Flyers defense. They have been one of the best defensive teams in the league and they did a great job of taking away the dangerous areas of the ice. That is what Flyers coach John Tortorella has ingrained in his players this year. Protect the house first, and then go on the attack.
Things started to open up in the second period, and the Caps started to get more Grade-A chances. They had five high-danger scoring opportunities in the second period at five-on-five play. Connor McMichael ended up scoring a nifty goal in front of the net thanks to a defensive zone breakdown.
Throughout the game, the Caps struggled to get the puck out of the zone. That was very evident in the third period. Owen Tippett’s late tying goal in the third was because Beck Malenstyn failed to get the puck out of the zone. Breakouts as a whole were a big problem.
Connor McMichael Miraculous
McMichael has had a lot of good hockey games, but Thursday night was by far his best of the season. Obviously, his line with Aliaksei Protas and Anthony Mantha has been Washington’s best trio as of late. However, we’ve focused on Mantha and Protas and not so much McMichael.
The 22-year-old scored his sixth goal of the season, 46 seconds after the Flyers took a 1-0 lead. He was parked in front of Flyers goaltender, Samuel Ersson, with his stick on the ice and once he got the puck from Protas, he displayed great patience in front of the net and tucked it home going backhand forehand.
LET THIS LINE COOK pic.twitter.com/XEaN5u3WuA
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 15, 2023
McMichael led the team with four shots on goal, two of which were high-danger chances.
Defensively, McMichael had a great back-check on Flyers defenseman Sean Walker at the end of his shift.
#ALLCAPS McMichael defensive play of the game pic.twitter.com/iJIfRaO6Jm
— Capitals Replays (@capsreplays) December 15, 2023
McMichael now has points in three out of his last five games and his line have combined for seven goals at five-on-five over the last eight games. He was also 70% in the faceoff circle on Thursday, which is a season high.
The 2019 first round pick currently has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) on the campaign.
Notable Numbers and Observations
- Alex Ovechkin does not have a goal in 11 straight games. That sets a new career long drought for the Capitals’ captain.
- Martin Fehervary seemed to struggle in his own end and struggled to hold onto the puck
- The Caps power play finally got on the board and got some good looks throughout the game. Though the vaunted Flyers PK had a few shorthanded chances
- The Caps outshot the Flyers 7-2 in the first period, but were outshot 32-30 in the game
- The Capitals blocked 17 shots compared to the Flyers 16
- Each team had five giveaways
- The Flyers led in high-danger chances 10-7 at 5v5.
The Capitals will look to get back in the win column when they take on the Nashville Predators on Saturday, Dec. 16 at Bridgestone Arena.
By Jacob Cheris