Flyers Struggle in Preseason Finale, Fall to Capitals

The preseason came to a close for the Philadelphia Flyers with a whimper. Icing nearly all of their opening-night lineup didn't seem to matter against an upstart Washington Capitals team filled with players looking to make an impression.

The Capitals scored three times in the second period to open up a lead and never look back, securing a 5-1 decision at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Saturday night to close out the preseason.

The Flyers had four power plays in the first period, including a double-minor, but were unable to score. They had a 14-5 lead in shots through 20 minutes of scoreless action.

Just 31 seconds into the second, the Flyers took the lead. Jamie Drysdale was able to walk into the slot and fire a shot past Charlie Lindgren to make it 1-0.

The Capitals took advantage of several miscues by the Flyers for the rest of the period. At 4:32, they tied the game after a miscommunication behind the net, with Andrew Cristall getting the goal to even things at one.

At 7:36, a turnover by David Jiricek allowed Maxim Schafer to get a quick shot on goal and score to put Washington in front.

The Capitals added another on the power play at 12:24. After a Jiricek high-sticking penalty, the set-up pass from Louie Belpedio hit the stick of Noah Cates and slowed up on a tee for Ethen Frank to make it 3-1.

Through two periods, shots were 33-13 Flyers.

Just 1:07 into the third, Washington added to the lead as Theodor Niederbach scored to make it 4-1. With 3:54 to go in the third, Lynden Lakovic added another goal to cap the scoring.

Aleksei Kolosov made 19 saves on 24 shots in the loss. Lindgren made 33 saves on 34 shots in the first two periods. Cal Petersen made three saves in the third.

Next up, the regular season gets underway on Wednesday night, as the Flyers host the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7:30 PM.