Flyers Lose Third Straight

Brouwer scores on Bryzgalov

The Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Washington Capitals 3-2 tonight.

Turnovers proved costly for the Flyers as their sloppy play led to 3 straight goals by Washington.

The Flyers also lost Wayne Simmonds to a potential head injury. Simmonds was attempting to skate around Washington defenseman John Erskine, who threw his elbow up and hit Simmonds square on the nose sending him to the ice. Simmonds also hit the back of his head on the ice on his way down. No penalty was called on the play, but Wayne Simmonds would miss the rest of the game. Following the game, GM Paul Holmgren acknowledged that Simmonds had a 'head injury' but said he was not yet diagnosed with a concussion. Holmgren also said that Simmonds felt better after the game and will see how he feels tomorrow. Erskine will most likely have a disciplinary hearing tomorrow; however, the Flyers could have used a 5 minute major, as they are still struggling to score goals.

Philadelphia also had to play without Zac Rinaldo after he stood up for Simmonds dropping the gloves with Matt Hendricks. The two players were given 'game misconducts' because they dropped their gloves prior to the puck being dropped.

After a goaltending duel in the 1st period, the Flyers got on the board first when Bruno Gervais scored his first goal of the season and as a member of the Flyers. Danny Briere was working behind the net and attempted a wraparound that landed right on Gervais stick in front and he buried it into the wide open cage staring at him.

Simmonds takes an elbow to the head

The Flyers played very well in the 2nd period and outshot the Capitals 14-6, unfortunately a sloppy line-change and a turnover turned into a Nicklas Backstrom breakaway, and after the beautiful backhand, it was a tied hockey game and Washington stole all the momentum.

That momentum carried over into the 3rd period and ultimately turned into a lead for the Capitals. Troy Brouwer gave Washington a 2-1 lead when he was left all alone to the right of Ilya Bryzgalov and had all the time in the world to look up, find a spot, and bury it; Luke Schenn blew the coverage on the play, and that wouldn't be his only mistake of the night.

Less than 3 minutes later, the faceoff was won to Schenn in the neutral zone and he failed to control the puck. Wojtek Wolski blew past Schenn and beat Bryzgalov on another backhand taking a 3-1 lead.

Braydon Schenn got the Flyers within 1 after he deposited the puck into the back of the net following Matt Read's shot which hit a double post; however it wouldn't be enough.

Backstrom scores after another Flyers mistake

The Flyers would only take 1 shot in the final 9 minutes after Schenn's tally and only 6 total shots in the entire 3rd period. Philadelphia was the more rested team (they had 2 days off, while Washington played last night) yet they were still outplayed. Sloppy plays led to turnovers which led to goals. Washington had an incredible 12 takeaways compared to the Flyers' 3. And that won them tonight's hockey game.

The Flyers fall to 2-6 on the season; tied for last place.

Game Notes:

• Ilya Bryzgalov made 23 saves on 26 shots while Braden Holtby stopped 29 of 31 shots.
• The Capitals blocked 23 shots, while the Flyers only blocked 11.
• The Flyers actually won 58% of their faceoffs tonight. They came into tonight's game 28th in the league (out of 30) winning only 46.7% of their draws.
• Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux both won over 64% of their faceoffs.
• The Flyers didn't allow a PowerPlay goal against for only the second time all season. They went 5 for 5.
• Unfortunately they didn't score a PowerPlay goal either, going 0-3.

Highlights:
For Highlights to tonight's game: CLICK HERE

Drop the Puck:
The Flyers will look to put this loss behind them immediately as they come home to face the Carolina Hurricanes.