Late rally falls short as slow-starting Flyers fall to Capitals, 5-3

Four nights earlier, the Flyers were playing their sixth game in nine days, and they faded over the last two periods in a loss to Washington.

On Thursday, they were more rested, but it didn’t matter. They chased the game from the outset and that’s not a good way to play against the powerful Capitals, who outlasted the Flyers, 5-3, at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Flyers looked sleepy in the first 40 minutes, woke up and got third-period goals from Ivan Provorov (18:17 left) and Scott Laughton (9:15 left) to trim a 4-1 deficit to 4-3, but couldn’t get the equalizer.

Washington got goals from Alex Ovechkin, Conor Sheary, John Carlson, and Nic Dowd (two). Dowd’s second goal was an empty-netter with 28 seconds left.

“Give credit to opposition,” coach Alain Vigneault said. “They’re tough to play against. Their pressure is hard and relentless. If you lose the puck in offensive zone, their counteract is really efficient.”

The Flyers have lost four of their last six games and are fading in the East Division race.

Carlson, a high-scoring defenseman, was left unguarded as he joined the attack, took a feed from Jakub Vrana, and beat Brian Elliott from the left circle. That gave the Caps a 3-1 lead with 13:02 remaining in the second period. It was Carlson’s sixth goal of the season and 500th point of his career.

Dowd made it 4-1 with 2:27 left in the second as he went around Travis Sanheim (minus-3) and lost the puck but it caromed off Shayne Gostisbehere’s skate and into the net. (Earlier in the period, Gostisbehere, who also finished at minus-3, probably saved a goal with a blocked shot.)

A mistake by Elliott and a flub by Provorov led to the game’s first goal, a right-circle blast by Ovechkin (11 shots, seven on goal). It was his fourth goal in three games against the Flyers this season – and 38th in 60 career games vs. Philadelphia.

Elliott tried to clear the puck off the left-wing boards instead of giving it to one of his teammates near the net. The bouncing puck went to Provorov whose clearing attempt went to Ovechkin as he raced into the zone and scored on a wicked slap shot with 11:23 left in the first.

Less than three minutes later, the Flyers’ tied it on a power-play goal by Travis Konecny, who took a slick pass from Kevin Hayes (two assists) and scored on a one-timer from the left side of the right circle. It was the seventh of the season for Konecny, who celebrated his 24th birthday Thursday.

But about two minutes after Konecny’s goal, Daniel Sprong sprung Sheary on a breakaway. Sheary got behind Sanheim and Erik Gustafsson and put a shot that trickled through Elliott’s legs and into the net.

It was the 11th time this season the Flyers had allowed a goal less than two minutes after they scored.

“We made some costly mistakes that they were able to put it in the back of our net,” Vigneault said.

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The Flyers had seven giveaways in the first period – one that included Andy Andreoff’s slight decision over Washington’s Garnet Hathaway in a fight late in the stanza – and it seemed most of them led to a Grade A chances for the Caps.

“We have to play a lot better,” said Konecny, who had two points. “It was just sloppy and we have to clean it up.”

The Flyers have played 43% of their 56-game season. Before the game, Vigneault was asked if he felt like the stretch drive was nearing.

“I thought we were in the stretch drive starting with the first game,” he cracked, a reference to the abbreviated season. “You look at our division and the quality of teams and the competition. [We knew] it was going to be a challenge, which we want.”

It was the first of back-to-back games against the second-place Capitals (16-6-4), who now have a seven-point lead over the fifth-place Flyers (13-8-3) in the East Division. The Flyers are three points behind Boston for the fourth and final playoff spot.

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The Caps beat the Flyers on Sunday, 3-1, at the Wells Fargo Center.

“They’ve come into our home building in the last week or so and taken four points from us,” Laughton said. “We have to be prepared and make it harder on them.”

The Flyers will try to regain their mojo Saturday against the Caps. For the most part, that mojo has been missing since six regulars went on the COVID-19 list about a month ago.

Now healthy, it’s up to them to find it.

For 60 minutes, not 20.