Takeaways: Flyers drop preseason opener to Capitals 5-2

The Philadelphia Flyers started their four-game exhibition season on Monday night with a 5-2 loss against the Capitals at the GIANT Center in Hershey. Although Cole Knuble had a multi-point game, the contest might have been more detrimental due to center Denver Barkey leaving the game after taking a big hit in the first.

The Basics

First period: 2:42- Jack Studnicka (Cole Knuble, Jett Luchanko) (PPG), 9:39- Aliaksei Protas (Dylan Strome, Jon McDonald) (PPG), 19:18 – Ryan Leonard (Ryan Chesley, Justin Holl)
Second period: 8:06- Cole Knuble (Oliver Bonk, Hunter McDonald), 18:17- Dylan Strome (Jordan Kyrou, Ryan Chesley)
Third period: 1:57- Jonny Brodzinski (Ethen Frank, Ryan Chesley), 9:45- Jonny Brodzinski (Martin Fehervary, Theodor Niederbach (SHG)
SOG: 19 (PHI) – 23 (WAS)

Some Takeaways

Hard, heavy game

The Flyers got off to a great start with the game’s opening goal. However, over the course of the first period, Philadelphia rarely had any huge shifts, primarily being one-and-done at the best of times. Of course playing against a team like Washington, at times, resembles skating against five Michelin Men on skates. Not a lot of room, and Washington’s an extremely big club.

Hunter McDonald got into the middle of things in the second, delivering a hard hit on Ryan Leonard. Washington forward Andrew Cristall crosschecked McDonald in the kisser, knocking the defenseman down. Cristall received (and warranted) a five-minute major for the infraction. Perhaps most important was the face of McDonald, who thankfully didn’t miss any time.

Special teams also certain didn’t help much on this night, with the Flyers struggle on the power play (we’ve heard and seen this before). Adding insult to injury was giving up a short-handed tally in the third to put things out of reach. That and Philadelphia having just one shot on goal in the first 17 minutes of the third, something Tocchet would not be pleased with even this early.

Another brick in the Woll

Joseph Woll is slated to take some of the workload off Dan Vladar’s shoulders, will providing Philadelphia with far more consistent, credible play then the team’s had in the last few seasons. Woll knows his role, but he’s still eager to prove himself. That started with a 40-minute workload on Monday night against Washington, making a good first save on Ethen Frank before the game was a minute old. He also did the splits to make a toe save on a delayed penalty. He also was tested on a five-on-three in the first, making a highlight-reel save before not quite getting all of a shot that bounced behind him.

Woll didn’t seem as busy in the second period. He made a very good stop to keep it tied up in the second. Unfortunately, a bad line change late in the second resulted in Dylan Strome beating Woll up high to make it 3-2 Caps. A quick shot of Tocchet on the bench appeared he wasn’t happy with how the change was (or was not) executed.

Woll finished his two periods of work stopping 15 of 18 for an .833 save percentage. Not outstanding but it’s early. Carson Bjarnason started the final frame and gave up one early on a high wrister by Jonny Brodzinski. Eight minutes later Brodzinski beat Bjarnason high to make the game 5-2, and pretty much nixing any comeback by Philadelphia.

Barkey banged up, Martone ho hum

It wasn’t probably the great first impression probably Denver Barkey nor Porter Martone wanted. Both players looked to be not quite on the same page most of the first, rarely getting any sustained pressure and neither registering a shot on goal after the opening twenty. Martone was also on the ice for a late goal against by Ryan Leonard, unable to clear the puck or win the battle before it ended up behind Woll seconds later.

Martone and the Flyers had a golden chance to make their power play start to get a wee bit of confidence. A five-minute power play had the first unit not quite generating anything. They came on a bit in the dying stages, but came up empty-handed with very few quality opportunities. A snafu early in the third nearly was a tap-in for the youngster but Caps keeper Clay Stevenson — who started the third — got to it first.

Unfortunately, Barkey took a hit from Martin Fehervary in the latter moments of the first, and got up feeling the effects afterwards. Although he finished the first, and took a shift in the second, Barkey left the game and didn’t return. It might have been a precautionary measure, given that it is the exhibition season and there’s no need to put him back in harm’s way if injured. The Flyers made it official with about 11 minutes to go in the third that Barkey was done for the night.

Luchanko looked fine

Jett Luchanko has played three games wearing the Flyers uniform so far since the start of Rookie Camp. And each game he’s almost had the of the litter regarding the quality wingers on either side of him. Luchanko, aspiring to stick around with Philadelphia for far longer than a handful of games in 2026-27, showed signs of life on the team’s second power play unit. Luchanko got a secondary assist on a great seam pass to Cole Knuble.

Although he wasn’t going to be limited in terms of ice time with a rather light lineup, Luchanko was on Philadelphia’s first penalty killing unit, showing his two-way, special teams ability. He was also put to the test on a lengthy 5-on-3 Washington had midway through, and looked good before Washington beat Woll to tie things up. With the Barkey injury, Luchanko found himself with Martone for stretches of the third, but nothing materialized from the pairing.

Knuble still clicking on all cylinders

Cole Knuble has been praised for his play in the Rookie Camp and the early part of Training Camp. It’s something that has been recognized by Danny Briere as well as Flyers head coach David Jiricek. Whether he’ll be able to do enough to stick around a while remains to be seen. However, he got off to a good start in his opening shift, drawing a penalty that put Philadelphia on the power play. And on the power play, the Flyers scored. Not a typo, folks! A decent passing play resulted in Knuble feeding Jack Studnicka, who paid the price crashing the net but beat Charlie Lindgren for a 1-0 lead.

He didn’t stop then, having another solid shift midway through regulation. After driving the play, and making a nice pass back to the blueline, Knuble got his stick on a bouncing puck and beat Lindgren to tie the game 2-2. He’s not making things easy for the Flyers in terms of trying to cut him. And that’s a problem everyone concerned is probably going enjoy having over the next week and change.

Powell trying to push buttons

Noah Powell knows what he has to do to make an impression. He bowled over tough guy Dylan McIlrath with a clean hit at the blueline midway through period one. McIlrath wasn’t amused, and went head-hunting in return, nailing Powell up high but not hitting him flush. Garrett Wilson dropped the gloves and held his own again McIlrath, standing up for the youngster who just avoided disaster.

Outside of that one hit, Powell wasn’t quite the presence he had been during the Rookie Series on this night. He still has time, but he didn’t really do a whole lot outside of that one big hit.

Jiricek still getting his feet wet

Defenseman David Jiricek wasn’t all that noteworthy. He did make some deft outlet passes from time to time, including one in the second that put Philadelphia on a quick rush up ice. It wasn’t a huge play, but it was a finely-threaded pass that got the Flyers out of any possible trouble, while creating some quick transition the other way. He was also able to get pucks through on Philadelphia’s five-minute power play, including a great shot that was low and very rebound-friendly.

Espace publicitaire · 300×250