If Saturday's preseason finale was any indication of the team's preparedness ahead of the regular season, the Philadelphia Flyers ought to hope they got the last of their unsightly mistakes out of their system before the games start to matter.
Despite dressing effectively their entire opening night lineup, the Flyers lost 5-1 on Saturday night to a Capitals team dressing a roster comprised entirely of AHL veterans, prospects, and one NHL-caliber goalie in Charlie Lindgren.
The Flyers dominated the run of play the way they should have, out-shooting the Capitals 33-13 through the first two periods, and taking a 1-0 lead through Jamie Drysdale just 31 seconds into the second period.
At the same time, the power play went 0-for-4, including a four-minute double minor, and a few second-period mistakes blew up badly in the Flyers' faces.
First, goalie Aleksei Kolosov mishandled a puck at the side of his net, and defenseman David Jiricek, who Kolosov had his back to, had already begun skating away in anticipation of a breakout.
Kolosov lost the puck, though, and the play came around to Jiricek's side, where Andrew Cristall was able to fumble the puck into the net despite Jiricek's best efforts to try and cover for Kolosov.
Jiricek and Kolosov were at the scene of the crime a second time just three minutes later. Nick Seeler and Jiricek miscommunicated who would play the loose puck, and while Seeler took it and attempted to skate away, he deferred immediately to Jiricek, who tried to awkwardly backhand out of pressure.
Unfortunately for him and the Flyers, the blind pass went right to Maxim Schafer, who inexplicably beat Kolosov on the short side on a one-timer.
Just over halfway through the third period, Jiricek's high-stick on Cristall put the Capitals on the power play, with Ethen Frank beating Kolosov on the short side again immediately after the faceoff.
Jiricek was mostly at fault for the second goal as he made a foolish play under pressure, but the first was on Kolosov, and the third was on him for taking the penalty and the penalty kill (and Kolosov) for failing to come through.
Comparatively, Tyson Foerster and Porter Martone took tripping and roughing penalties, respectively, but the spotlight wasn't on them, and the pucks didn't go in with them in the box.
For Jiricek, it was a rough night compounded by a series of unfortunate plays, but this is part of the development process for the former No. 6 overall pick and the Flyers, who went out of their way to get him via trade.
"Yeah, he had a tough night," Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet said of Jiricek after the game. "Three or four guys had a tough night. But, being a pro, you gotta bounce back. We'll get to it, get some video, make him understand some things. I mean, you're going to have a tough night. You just got to make sure you stay consistent."
Seeler, Jiricek, and Matvei Michkov all finished with -3 ratings on the night for the Flyers.
Capitals forwards Theodor Niederbach and Lynden Lakovic punched shots by Kolosov in the third period to put the Capitals up 5-1, allowing the undermanned squad to run away with this game in stunning fashion.
"That wasn't a great effort by us tonight. I think we let it get away from us, and could have definitely made it look a little less ugly," Flyers forward Owen Tippett said after the game. "But we're super confident, especially coming off the year we had last year, and morale's high. We've had a good camp and it's great to be back with all the guys."
The Flyers will practice again on Sunday and Tuesday before their regular season opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m., and then it's officially go time.
“I’m actually glad we lost 5-1. It’s a little humbling, which is good for us," Tocchet said. "Sometimes you’re not as good as you think you are.”
