Larry Henry Jr
For the first time in 362 days, the Philadelphia Flyers got to play in front of fans at the Wells Fargo Center. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the result that the team nor the fans would’ve wanted.
Ilya Samsonov made 32 saves while Alex Ovechkin and Dmitry Orlov each scored goals as the Washington Capitals fought back to claim a 3-1 road victory. It was the Flyers’ first back-to-back regulations losses since January 2020 while Washington snapped a four-game losing streak to the Flyers.
Joel Farabee’s impressive season continued with the 22-year-old breaking the deadlock after the midway point of the first period. Farabee snuck a shot through the five hole of Samsonov, giving the Orange and Black a 1-0 advantage.
It was Farabee’s 11th goal of the 2021 season, continuing a career-best year for the New York native.
🔉 Sound on. 🧡🖤#AnytimeAnywhere | #WSHvsPHI pic.twitter.com/U2EumN3eLP
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) March 8, 2021
Washington was dominated in the opening period, but woke up big time after the intermission. After the Flyers couldn’t put away their offensive chances, Alex Ovechkin answered with his 714th career goal. Ovechkin snuck towards the net and put away a wrist shot over the shoulder of Carter Hart.
He now sits three goals away from tying Phil Esposito for sixth all-time in the NHL scoring ranks.
.@ovi8 scoring to the sweet sound of boos 🤌 pic.twitter.com/D6l3nQuUm6
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 8, 2021
The Flyers tried to get to the second intermission level at 1-1, but were burned after a blown icing call by the referee crew. On the ensuing face-off, John Carlson’s cross ice pass was slammed home on a one-timer by Dmitry Orlov for his second goal of the season.
Perfection! pic.twitter.com/0VJVbIZUjx
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) March 8, 2021
A defensive breakdown by the Flyers proved to be costly in the third period with the Capitals icing their road win. Zdeno Chara’s clean hit on Joel Farabee also wiped James van Riemsdyk out of the play as the forward retaliated towards the veteran defender. Nick Jensen finished off a 4-on-3 the other way, scoring his first goal since 2018, making it 3-1 Capitals.
Samsonov made plenty of key saves down the stretch to preserve the two-goal advantage and the victory. Not only did the Russian deny Travis Konecny on a point-blank range effort, but he also kept Jakub Voracek out on a close-range one-timer.
The second-year goaltender continued to make important saves in the final minutes as the Capitals closed out a first road win in Philadelphia since March 2019.
The Flyers continue a four-game homestand on Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
You can follow Larry Henry on Twitter (@lhenry019) and e-mail him at [email protected].
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