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On Thursday, the Philadelphia Flyers travelled to Hershey, Pennsylvania for their third preseason game to face the Washington Capitals. Entering the game, the Flyers had a 1-1 record with a 3-2 shootout win over the New York Islanders and a 4-2 loss in Montreal against the Canadiens.
Unfortunately, much like their loss north of the border, the Flyers put forward a flat effort to start the game. Combine that with a Capitals team that plays fast under head coach Spencer Carbery and you had the recipe for an ugly 5-1 loss.
The Capitals took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by winger Andrew Cristall at 8:11 of the first period. In the second period, Washington scored a pair goals within two minutes of each other by Ivan Miroshnichenko and Sonny Milano to make it 3-0.
Philadelphia responded with a Jacob Gauthier goal at 15:51 to cut the Capitals lead to two goals. However, any hope of a Flyers’ comeback was scuttled by a Connor McMichael short handed goal at 1:07 of the third period. A mistake by rookie Jack Nesbitt on the power-play led to a two on none break.
Finally, Milano closed out the scoring with his second of the night when he whipped home a pass from Hendrix Lapierre with 1:03 remaining. Lapierre finished with three assists.
And with that, here’s my three takeaways from the game, plus a look at Thursday’s roster cuts and injury news.
Vladar’s Solid Debut & Flyers Goalie Plan
Dan Vladar’s night could’ve started better as he gave up a top shelf power play goal to Washington’s Cristall at 8:11 of the first period. Another flurry of chances saw the Czech goalie a bit off balance and flopping to keep the puck out.
However, Vladar began to settle in after he stopped a power-play point shot from Caps defenseman Declan Chisholm. After that, he was able to see shots coming through. In the end, he had a solid debut with eight saves on nine shots.
Prior to Thursday night’s game, Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet laid out the team’s preseason plan for their NHL tandem. Both Ersson and Vladar will play one period of hockey in this week’s games, followed by full games for each next week. This followed what seemed to be a curious decision to play Ersson only one period in Montreal on Tuesday night, especially after Tocchet apparently “misspoke” about him playing the full game.
New Lines Underwhelm
Tocchet went with another experimental combination of forwards against the Capitals with two new lines. He partnered Noah Cates between Alex Bump and Travis Konecny, while Jett Luchanko anchored Owen Tippett and Nikita Grebenkin.
In the first period, Tippett used his speed to get a dangerous chance on his first shift with his line mates going forehand to backhand on Caps goalie Clay Stevenson. With about three minutes remaining, Bump was able to spin and get a scoring opportunity on Stevenson. He continued to get looks in the second period, but he remains frustratingly without a preseason point.
However, Tippett’s linemates didn’t do much to stand out. Luchanko’s speed flashed a few times and he played solid defensively and on the penalty kill. He made a nice chip pass to get Tippett a scoring chance. It’s important to keep in mind Luchanko’s recovery from his groin injury. But if you were hoping to see consistent offensive upside, it wasn’t there to be found.
Nikita Grebenkin, who had been very noticeable in the first two games, wasn’t in this one.
Depth Defensemen Have Work To Do
It was not a good night for the Flyers depth defensemen. Helge Grans was posterized on Miroshnichenko’s goal. Noah Juulsen and Adam Ginning both drew penalties that didn’t help Philadelphia during the first period. Juulsen and Dennis Gilbert collided into one another prior to Milano’s goal. It’s pretty clear through three games, the fight for the sixth/seventh defenseman spot seems to be an open audition right now.
Tuomaala Among Thursday Roster Cuts
It was a matter of time that the Flyers would be substantially reducing down their roster. On Thursday, they did just that in announcing 10 roster cuts. Forwards Samu Tuomaala, Massimo Rizzo, and Tucker Robertson were assigned to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, along with six AHL contracted players. Winger Oscar Eklind was placed on waivers with the intention of assigning him to Allentown once he clears.
As a result, the Flyers roster now stands at 42 players.
Among the most notable cuts was Tuomaala. With the Flyers current and future depth at his position, the former 2021 second round pick needed to make an impact during training camp to have a chance of making the roster. However, he didn’t stand out enough in Rookie or NHL camp. Now he’ll have to impress in the AHL if he hopes to earn NHL playing time this season. With his entry level contract expiring this season, the lock is ticking.
Samson Out 6-8 Weeks + Injury Updates
Defenseman Ethan Samson sustained a upper body injury that will sideline him for six to eight weeks. Samson recently played on the Flyers third pairing during Tuesday’s 4-2 loss at Montreal. While he was likely ticketed to return to the AHL, this was shaping up as a big year career-wise for the 2021 sixth round pick. So an unfortunate setback for him starting his third pro season.
Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach John Snowden spoke recently about Samson during the Rookie Series games in Allentown. He specifically focused on the criticism that Samson can be too fancy handling the puck.
“It’s kind of a Catch-22 with him because one of his greatest strengths is that he’s able to transfer the puck with his feet up the rink. If you notice in the neutral zone, he can beat out one (defender). But there are times once he gets his boots going, he missed the plays that keeps the pace going quicker. Maybe it’s a kick to someone and he has to get the puck back to a place with speed. It kind causes him to skate all the way into the zone.”
“It’s hard because it’s a skill that not alot of people have, so it’s our job to not take that skill away. We want to enhance that skill and teach him when the puck’s got to move, when he needs to get a puck back, and advance it quickly to our forward’s hands.”
In addition, forwards Karsen Dorwart and Lane Pederson, along with defenseman Oliver Bonk are day-to-day with upper body injuries. Dorwart did take the ice on Thursday individually, so we’ll see how soon he’ll return.
