Flyers Fall in Preseason Opener to Capitals

The preseason can be a challenging place for evaluation, especially in the new shortened format. For the Philadelphia Flyers, their preseason opener on Monday night had some standout moments, but going against more of an NHL lineup in the Washington Capitals, they mostly looked overmatched.

The Flyers kept the game close for two periods, but allowed two goals in the third on the way to a 5-2 loss to open up preseason play at Giant Center in Hershey.

The Flyers got on the board first at 2:42 with an early power-play goal. Jack Studnicka went to the net and was able to stuff a chance past Charlie Lindgren to open the scoring.

Washington struck on the power play at 9:35 of the first to tie the game, as a shot went off the glove of Joseph Woll and found the net with Aliaksei Protas getting credit for the goal.

In the final minute of the first, Ryan Leonard fired a high shot over Woll to make it 2-1 after 20 minutes.

At 8:06 of the second, the Flyers tied the game as a deflection went right to Cole Knuble, who tipped it home to make it a 2-2 game.

After coming up unsuccessful on a five-minute power play, the Flyers were on the wrong end of the tie-breaking goal. The Capitals took the lead with 1:43 remaining in the second as Dylan Strome scored off the rush with the Flyers caught in a line change to make it 3-2 after two periods.

Just 1:57 into the third, Jonny Brodzinski greeted Carson Bjarnason with a goal to make it 4-2 Capitals. Brodzinski added a second goal at 9:45, scoring shorthanded to cap the scoring for the game and make it 5-2.

Denver Barkey left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return.

Knuble had a goal and an assist. Strome had a goal and an assist for Washington. Ryan Chesley had three assists.

Woll made 16 saves on 19 shots in two periods. Bjarnason made seven saves on nine shots. Lindgren stopped 12 of 14 shots before being relieved in the middle of the second period. Clay Stevenson stopped all six shots he faced for the remainder of the game.

The Flyers are right back in action in the preseason on Tuesday night, taking on the Boston Bruins on the road at 7 PM.

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.