HERSHEY, Pa. — With an inexperienced lineup Monday night in their preseason opener, the Flyers suffered a 5-2 loss to the Capitals at Giant Center, the home of Washington’s AHL affiliate.

The loss will actually sting a bit if Denver Barkey has to miss time after exiting the game early. More on that below.

Jack Studnicka and Cole Knuble provided the Flyers’ goals.

“I thought Cole Knuble was flying out there,” Rick Tocchet said. “Studnicka was skating well. A couple of guys like that caught my eye.”

The majority of the club’s regulars were not on the trip.

The Flyers have three more preseason games to go. They open the regular season next Wednesday.

• Barkey took the opening shift of the second period before quickly departing.

The 21-year-old forward didn’t return to the game because of a lower-body injury. Tocchet didn’t have an update on him after the game.

Barkey appeared to be in some discomfort after taking a hit along the side boards from Martin Fehervary with about four and a half minutes left during the first period.

He was the Flyers’ first-line center Monday night, playing between Zach Aston-Reese and Porter Martone. Barkey entered training camp poised for a season-opening lineup spot. We’ll see if this changes things.

• Knuble, a prospect the Flyers have been raving about, put up a multi-point game.

The 22-year-old forward also had a goal in his one rookie game. He has been a riser in the club’s system. The 2023 fourth-rounder is set for his first full season of pro hockey and could be knocking on the Flyers’ door.

“I came here to make an impact,” Knuble said. “I just try to bring compete, a good attitude every skate. It’s going well.”

Jett Luchanko showed some flashes of his speed and collected an assist. He can be an effective guy on the penalty kill. But the Flyers will look for more of his offense to come out this season.

• Joseph Woll, the Flyers’ new backup goaltender, played the first two periods and converted 16 saves on 19 shots. He didn’t play poorly at all. The Flyers’ lack of regulars definitely showed.

“He’s fine, he was good tonight,” Tocchet said. “I wasn’t really worried about the score and stuff, but there are just certain concepts that we really want to attack. The one thing is, you guys know me, I hate giving up the middle of the ice or the weak side. So that’s something we’ll clean up as the camp goes on.”

With under two minutes left in the second period, the Flyers made a poor line change that led to the Capitals’ go-ahead 3-2 goal. Dylan Strome took advantage of the Grade A look on Woll.

Ryan Leonard, who was taken one pick after Matvei Michkov in 2023, sent a laser past Woll with 41 seconds to go before first intermission. The goal handed the Flyers a 2-1 deficit. They had a 1-0 lead just 2:42 minutes into the action when Studnicka scored a power play goal.

But Washington answered with a 5-on-3 power play goal that Woll nearly prevented.

“It was a pretty cool experience, I enjoyed wearing the new colors,” Woll said. “It was a pretty good atmosphere out there. The game didn’t go our way, but it’s the first of many here and I thought there were a lot of good things.”

The Flyers believe the 28-year-old will give them more stability at the backup spot behind Dan Vladar.

“He can carry the load and he’s an intelligent goalie,” Tocchet said Monday morning. “Even just on the puck handles, he’s going to help our goalie handles tremendously. Because some of the system stuff we do, we’re going to need the goalie to handle the puck a lot. I think we were just OK last year in that. I think that will help us break out the puck better and he can do that.”

Carson Bjarnason took over at the start of the third period and allowed two goals on eight shots.

• None of the Flyers’ defensemen really stood out.

The club’s sixth defensive spot is up for grabs between guys like Simon Benoit, David Jiricek and Oliver Bonk.

All three played Monday night. Bonk had an assist, but nobody really separated themselves.

“There’s some good stuff and some stuff that they’ve got to clean up,” Tocchet said of the Flyers’ defense. “Just things under pressure, don’t get yourself boxed in. Sometimes you play Washington, they have three or four guys back. I think the D has got to skate with it; a lot of times we were passing it instead of skating with it. Those are things that as camp goes on, you’ll start to get used to.”

• The Flyers are right back at it Tuesday when they visit the Bruins (7 p.m. ET/NBCSP+).

The game group has an optional skate at 9:30 a.m. ET in Voorhees, New Jersey. The non-game group will practice at 11:30 a.m. ET and 12:05 p.m. ET.