Flyers hope Nolan Patrick’s shootout goal yields more just like it

At a time when the whole world is talking about vaccinations, Flyers coach Alain Vigneault hopes his bold decision Tuesday night gives Nolan Patrick a shot of bravado moving forward.

“I hope it does give him confidence,” the coach said. With two games coming up against Washington, the Flyers could use any boost they can get.

After registering a point in five of the season’s first seven contests, Patrick has been held off the scoresheet for a career-long 16 consecutive games.

Which made Vigneault’s decision to use Patrick, his fourth-line center, as his second choice in Tuesday’s shootout mildly surprising. With just about everyone else at his disposal — Travis Konecny, Jake Voracek, Claude Giroux — Vigneault went with Patrick, who hadn’t participated in a shootout in almost two calendar years.

The kid came through, even if officially it does not break his scoring drought.

“It was a great move,” Vigneault said, “and he’s been working extremely hard.”

» READ MORE: It was a long and rough 2019-20 for Nolan Patrick

Washington is coming off its own wild game Tuesday night. Whereas the Flyers fought back for a shootout win, the Capitals blew a three-goal lead in the third period at home before beating New Jersey in overtime.

“If you don’t show up and play and the other team does, you’ll get your ears pinned back pretty quick,” Washington coach Peter Laviolette said, invoking a folksy idiom.

The Flyers will host the Capitals on Thursday and Saturday to close out the four-game homestand.

Jakub Vrana put the host Capitals in a good mood by winning it with his second goal of the night. Afterward, Laviolette was asked how his power play, which broke an 0-for-13 slide, could be ranked No. 1 at home and 29th on the road.

“The fans at home get us going, I think,” Laviolette quipped.

Washington’s Capital One Arena does not yet permit crowds.

“Certainly, we’ve got to be better on the road and that power play could be the difference between winning and losing hockey games,” he said.

Washington is 1-for-2 on the power play against the Flyers this season. Conversely, the Flyers are 0-for-8.

Caps forward Daniel Sprong scored his fourth goal of the season, converting an odd-man rush with Alexander Ovechkin.

“I looked him off in morning skate and he wasn’t too happy,” Sprong cracked. “When you go down on a 2-on-1 with the greatest goal-scorer, everyone thinks you’re going to give it to him. Even the goalie thought so.”

Carter Hart is in a slump right now, and it’s eating him up.

Physically, he’s fine. When he’s on, he has the potential to be one of the five best goalies in the league. But something’s not clicking, and the issue seems to be somewhere between his ears.

“I’ve been very fortunate in this game to have some great goaltenders in front of me and in front of my teams,” Vigneault said, rattling off the names of future Hall of Famers Henrik Lundqvist and Roberto Luongo. “All those goaltenders at one time or another went through challenging periods. All players do.”

» READ MORE: Brian Elliott gets the win in relief of Carter Hart

The defense in front, it should be noted, has been leaky, too. Hart erased those defensive mistakes a year ago. This season, he’s fighting himself.

The problem is the Flyers don’t have time for a goaltender controversy. There are too many games in too short a time for Vigneault to bench Hart while the 22-year-old collects himself. If Brian Elliott, who allowed one deflected goal in 40 minutes (corrected), starts Thursday against Washington, Hart likely will get the call Saturday.

The Flyers play every other night for the next three weeks, including two back-to-backs mixed in just to keep them honest.

Hart is down on himself, which is unfortunate given his easygoing personality. He lost to the Capitals on Sunday, 3-1, though he kept the Flyers in it for much of the evening.

“You got to show mental strength, mental fortitude, and you have to battle through,” Vigneault said. “That’s what we expect Carter to do.”