Takeaways From The Flyers Preseason Game vs The Capitals
Wednesday night the Flyers continued their preseason schedule as they took on the Washington Capitals at the Wells Fargo Center. While it is still preseason the Flyers had a decent amount of regulars in the lineup while the Capitals mainly had their Hersey Bears squad playing.
The Flyers lost the game 3-1 and they once again just like many times last year fell victim to a very poorly played second period. After playing a very tight checking first period, the wheels sort of fell off in period two and the Capitals cashed in with two goal in the span of three minutes.
The third period was played a little bit better by the Flyers and even resulted in them scoring a pretty nice goal. Wade Allison made an aggressive play to knock the puck off a Capitals player, which led to a two on one from Owen Tippet and Kevin Hayes. Tippet sent a nice pass over to Hayes who buried it past the Capitals goaltender.
However it was a late turnover that ended up resulting in a 2-0 for the Capitals as Connor Brown hit Dylan Strome on the doorstep to give the Caps the 3-1 lead with about four minutes left. That would be all they needed as even with the goalie pulled the Flyers weren’t able to generate high quality chances and time would run out. The loss drops the Flyers to 1-2 on the preseason with their next game coming Saturday against the Boston Bruins.
The Good:
Not everything to come out of this game was horrible for the Flyers. Trying to be positive is going to be one of the hardest things as someone who is going to be covering this team this season. One of the biggest bright spots from yesterdays game was the play of Wade Allison. The kid was flying around all game and certainly made himself known out there. He looks healthy and if he can stay that way he’s the type of player that could thrive under Torts system.
Kevin Hayes might be back. He has looked great during camp and during the games he’s played in. We started seeing it towards the end of last year as he was finally fully recovering from his injuries. But now we are seeing the Kevin Hayes we had been hoping for. He looks quicker and you can tell he has put in a lot of working during the offseason. If he can stay healthy and continue to be more and more confident he could be in store for a big year.
The Bad:
Tony Deangelo…Not a great first impression in front of the home fans. In his post game press conference he acknowledged his poor performance which is nice that he was aware but not what you want to see for a guy you just paid big bucks to. The pairing of him and Ivan Provorov needs to be the Flyers top defensive pair if this team is going to have little to any success. Yes, it was his first game but its still a bit concerning to see for your number two defenseman.
Isaac Ratcliffe just might not be an NHL player. I like this kid, I really do but he just didn’t look good at all. Every time he was out there he just seemed to be out of position and is still not utilizing his 6’6 200lb body the way that he should be. He played only 11:28 and really didn’t register anything during his time on ice. He’s a big guy and he just looks awkward skating out there. Obviously he is still young and only has played 10 games at the NHL level but I’m not confident that he really develops into anything special. He could make the team but I think he would be better off starting in the AHL and growing his game down there.
Expect to see the Flyers trim there roster over the next few days as we will get a better idea of what their opening night lineup could look like.
Keep it here all season long as I will be providing all of the Flyers coverage for Life of A Philly Fan. We officially got approved for credentials so I am looking forward to providing some on site coverage during the season.
-Walsh