The Philadelphia Flyers fell to the Washington Capitals, 3-1, on Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.

The Flyers fell to 25-21-11 on the season, while the Capitals improve to 30-23-7.

How It Happened

The rust of the Olympic break was on full display early for both teams in a scoreless first period. Shots were 9-7 Flyers after 20 minutes.

In the second, the Capitals came out strong early and eventually broke through for the game’s first goal at 13:52. Rasmus Sandin scored off a cross-ice pass from Hendrix Lapierre to make it 1-0 with his third goal of the season.

Just 29 seconds into the third, the Flyers tied the game on Noah Cates‘ 11th goal of the season.

The Capitals took the lead again with 5:52 to play in the third with Trevor van Riemsdyk capitalizing off a line change. Aliaksei Protas iced the game with an empty-net, short-handed goal to cap the scoring.

Box Score1st Period2nd Period3rd PeriodBy the NumbersShots: Flyers: 24, Capitals: 29Power Play: Flyers: 0-for-2, Capitals: 0-for-1Faceoffs: Flyers: 47.7%, Capitals: 52.3%Goalie: PHI Dan Vladar: 26 saves on 28 shots, WSH Logan Thompson: 23 saves on 24 shotsKey Performers

⭐ Logan Thompson — A strong performance for the Olympian for Team Canada, who allowed one deflection goal and turned aside everything else on the way to his 20th victory of the season.

⭐⭐ Dan Vladar — The Flyers’ Olympic netminder was pretty good in his return. Another game where Vladar allows two goals or fewer, and it still wasn’t enough to get the Flyers the victory.

⭐⭐⭐ Aliaksei Protas — Protas assisted on the game-winning goal for the Capitals and added a short-handed empty-net goal to seal the victory.

The Takeaway

An ugly return and a familiar result for the Flyers. There was clearly rust to work around, and they were once again in a competitive game, but their lack of finish proved costly again. It’s tough to win games when you so seldom find the back of the net.

Up Next

The Flyers are back on the ice on Thursday night to take on the New York Rangers at 8 PM.

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN. Follow him on social media @Kevin_Durso.

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