The Philadelphia Flyers had the opportunity to make a statement Thursday night but they were too tentative on the offense and Washington goalie, Braden Holtby was solid in stopping 19 shots.
Braden Holtby stopped 19 for 2-0 win in game 1 – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
Until Jay Beagle scored at 16:36 of the third period the Flyers kept the fans at the Verizon Center on edge. Beagle scored after a steal by Marcus Johansson off Jakob Voracek in center ice as the Flyers were looking for the equalizer.
Johansson skated the puck down the right wing and flipped a nifty pass to Beagle who wristed the puck home past Steve Mason.
Mason was stellar in the Flyers net making 29 saves, some of them spectacular.
Penalty killing units worked well for both teams with Washington killing all four Flyers power plays.
The Flyers killed off five of six power plays Washington was awarded.
John Carlson scored on a deflected shot from the blue line. The shot appeared to deflect off a Flyers defender and bounced all the way to the crease and past Mason for the 1-0 lead.
Johansson had the primary assist on the goal and Nicklas Backstrom had the secondary assist.
Washington dominated much of the play throughout the game and the Flyers were only able to generate sporadic offense and rarely tested Holtby. In the second period, the Flyers did not get a shot on goal until beyond the midway point of the period.
Despite four power plays Philadelphia was only able to generate six shots on goal with the man advantage.
Late in the game Wayne Simmonds dropped the gloves with Washington’s Tom Wilson in a tilt intended more for the rest of the series than anything from game one.
Mason will need more help. Despite the number of shots blocked by Flyers defenders those that did get through were quality chances.
Holtby was not challenged much and faced few quality chances out of the 19 shots on goal he stopped.
Sean Couturier was injured in the second period and did not return. He was listed with an upper-body injury. Any time off the bench will cost the Flyers the ability to roll four lines and put up more pressure on the power play.
Game 2 in the series is set for Saturday night in Washington
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