Instant reactions: Ovechkin, Capitals spoil Martone’s debut

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame

The Philadelphia Flyers have fallen to 0-for-10 when trying to extend a three-game winning streak to four with a loss in Washington, D.C. to the Capitals on Tuesday night.

Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson scored two goals apiece, while Dan Vladar suffered one of his worst performances of the season, allowing five goal on 17 shots in what is a major blown opportunity, given the losses suffered by the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators.

Porter Martone got stronger as the game went on, looking quite dangerous in the third period, but neither that nor the 6-on-4 with the empty net power play were enough to get the game to overtime to secure even one point. Bummer night for Flyers fans, who are dying for a reason to believe in a team that hasn’t won four straight games since February 6-12, 2024.

First period

Highlight: Not much went right for the Flyers in the first. Although they handily won the shot battle, 12-5, but they didn’t seem to have any extra jump, while Washington was hitting everything that moves en route to opening a 2-0 lead. Tom Wilson opened the scoring with a goal from distance, and Alex Ovechkin poked a puck away from Cam York after escaping Porter Martone’s coverage to put Philadelphia in a 2-0 hole after 20 minutes.

What I want to see next period: Let’s get one early, and level up. It’s not like the Flyers were bad in the first, but they needed to be woken up a little. After a late-period scrum that had the potential to blow up before it was broken up, will get them going to start the second.

Second period

Highlight: Travis Sanheim gets the Flyers on the board 39 seconds in, after the initial ruling of goalie interference was overturned once it was determined it was the Caps’ defender’s stick, not Christian Dvorak’s, that made the slightest of contact with Logan Thompson as Dvorak skated through the blue paint.

Carl Grundstrom tied the game up less than four minutes later, on a great feed in front from Trevor Zegras, to end a 17-game goal drought, and validating head coach Rick Tocchet’s decision to keep Grundstrom in the lineup over Alex Bump in response to the arrival of Martone.

Unfortunately the good vibes were short-lived, as Jakob Chychrun and Ryan Leonard each scored power play goals to restore Washington’s 2-goal lead heading into the third period.

What I want to see next period: I would love it if they could figure out a way to tie this game up and get at least a point, but I’m not hopeful. They just don’t seem to have anything EXTRA tonight. There’s nothing in the tank. Hopefully they can bounce back with big perofrmances in the back-to-backs against the Red Wings and Islanders on Thursday and Friday.

If one guy could step up and drag them back into this thing, though, it would be huge, with the Senators, Red Wings and Blue Jackets all trailing in the third period of their games.

Third period

Highlight: Once again, the Flyers score early to get themselves back into the game, with Christian Dvorak finally cashing in after a 2-on-1 pass from Martone to TK got broken up and poked to Travis Sanheim, who played it low to Konecny, who somehow missed the net. But Dvorak was there to clean it up and draw the Orange & Black within one just 33 seconds into the period.

Final note: In a back-and-forth third period, Washington was able to prevail, 6-4, with Wilson adding an empty-netter at the end to seal it. Vladar did not have his best stuff, and the Flyers made too many mistakes, like offensive zone tripping penalties by two of their best players, despite the third period being their most complete effort.

Watch PHLY Flyers Postgame