Flyers drop back end of pair to Caps, 5-4

PHILADELPHIA – The Flyers left themselves a big mountain to climb, and it just wasn’t scalable in the end.

Sean Couturier #14 of the Philadelphia Flyers looks to the puck as Washington Capitals players Nic Dowd #26, John Carlson #74 and Goalie Ilya Samsonov #30 defend their goal.

The Washington Capitals held on, Saturday night, and defeated the Flyers, 5-4, in regulation.

The Caps swept the two-game set.

Ilya Samsonov made 28 saves in the win.

Carl Hagelin and Nick Jensen had goals for the Caps.

“I think we’ve done a good job coming out with a lot of energy each game and we’ve been able to score that first goal, and you can see we’re doing a pretty good job too defensively,” Hagelin said. “Obviously in the third we’re giving up too much, but just overall we feel that we have a lot of confidence in our teammates and our linemates that they’re going to do their jobs.”

Alex Ovechkin had a goal, 716, in the win.

“There is a good balance right now,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette said. “There are no different rules for different lines, and no different roles. Everybody has the same rules with regards to how we play defense, how we attack offensively, and from there you have to work to create or work to defend. So the fact that we are getting contributions both defensively and offensively from all four lines I think is a real positive thing.”

Shayne Gostisbehere (power play) and Claude Giroux tried to rally the Flyers back with two goals in the third period.

“I thought we played a good game from start to finish,” Flyers head coach Alain Vigneault said. “Guys competed. We’re not going to be perfect, but we competed hard, made some good plays at the right time, got some good looks. Unfortunately the game results-wise didn’t go our way, but our battle level was there and we worked right until the end.”

Nic Dowd had given the Caps a 5-2 lead early in the third period before the Flyers tried to climb out of the hole.

“It’s hard to evaluate it like that when you’re losing games, but we’re doing a lot of good things out there,” Giroux said. “A few mistakes that cost us, but overall I think we keep playing like this, keep trending the right way, keep doing the right things, we’re going to win a lot of hockey games.”

Travis Konecny #11 of the Philadelphia Flyers screens Ilya Samsonov #30 of the Washington Capitals on a slapshot Shayne Gostisbehere #53 of the Philadelphia Flyers

James Van Riemsdyk and Nolan Patrick also scored for the Flyers.

Daniel Sprong opened the scoring in the game to give the Caps a 1-0 lead in the first period.

Brian Elliott got the start for the Flyers, but was pulled after making seven saves and surrendering three goals.

Carter Hart came into the game early in the middle frame and made 11 saves in relief.

Daniel Sprong #10 of the Washington Capitals checks Ivan Provorov #9 of the Philadelphia Flyers

Goalie Ilya Samsonov #30 and Zdeno Chara #33 of the Washington Capitals and James van Riemsdyk #25 of the Philadelphia Flyers

Sean Couturier #14 of the Philadelphia Flyers reaches back for the puck as Nic Dowd #26, Justin Schultz #2, and Ilya Samsonov #30 of the Washington Capitals defend their net

Jakub Voracek #93 and Sean Couturier #14 of the Philadelphia Flyers look for a scoring opportunity while Justin Schultz #2 and Goalie Ilya Samsonov #30 of the Washington Capitals defend their net