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Chuck Fletcher and Alain Vigneault felt it was time to see their new look in action.
“What could our starting lineup be this year,” as Vigneault said before the game, was revealed Saturday night by the Flyers in their third exhibition game of six on the preseason roster.
The Flyers beat the Capitals 3-1 at the Wells Fargo Center.
Claude Giroux, Cam Atkinson and Scott Laughton scored for the Flyers, who are 1-1-1 in the preseason. Laughton froze the game with his breakaway.
Washington has seated many of its best players, including Alex Ovechkin, TJ Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson.
Overall, however, the Flyers have seen some progress on their side and they’re going to take it.
• Fletcher added seven players to the big club roster this summer and all seven have taken to the ice, including substitute goalie Martin Jones.
“We have a lot of new players in the Flyers’ organization and we believe we will form, as quickly as possible, good chemistry,” Vigneault said before the game. “The best way to build good chemistry is to put the guys together. You work on things in training, but in a game, when there’s something at stake, when you’re playing against the opposition, it’s is real. “
Jones had an unenviable task of facing a good chunk of the Bruins regulars Thursday night at TD Garden as the Flyers rode with much more of a preseason mix. This time, Jones had the full Flyers roster at home and fared better.
The 31-year-old goaltender played all three periods and made 21 saves. One of the saves came three minutes before Atkinson gave the Flyers the lead.
The only goal Jones conceded came from a blocked shot that went straight to Aliaksei Protas in the slot in the Capitals’ first power play.
• Atkinson, the Flyers’ most notable newcomer up front, has been excellent. He showed keen shorthanded instincts and he’s a quality forward-chess because of his speed.
“I love everything Cam brings to the ice, to the table, to our team,” said Vigneault after the game. “Competitive, play the game the right way and that’s what we need.”
He scored a bold winning goal in the third period thanks to a clever reading and assist from Oskar Lindblom. The lineage of Atkinson, Lindblom and Derick Brassard has the potential to give the Flyers real depth.
“He’s got a lot of energy,” Giroux said of Atkinson. “He doesn’t lose a lot of battles and he’s not afraid of traffic. You saw his goal tonight, he enters it. It’s fun to see his hockey sense and to make the right plays.
• Rasmus Ristolainen, one of the newcomers at the back, played his physical defense.
Giroux took a hit in the first half and Ristolainen responded nicely. Unsurprisingly, Flyers fans approved.
The fearless Finnish defender had four hits in the first period and finished with five. He also recorded an assist and scored a plus-1.
All of Ristolainen’s moves were smart, timely and clean.
“Whenever he’s on the ice, if I’m the opponent, I make sure I keep my head up because he’s difficult to face, he makes the opposition pay,” said Vigneault. “It happens. Coming to a new team, new teammates, a new way of playing, a new style of play, there will obviously be an adjustment period for all of our new players – young and old – but I see it. him and travis [Sanheim] build some chemistry there. “
Ristolainen and Sanheim form the Flyers’ new second defensive pair. Both have size and skating ability.
“I don’t think a lot of people will want to play against them,” said Keith Yandle.
• Giroux put the Flyers on the board in the first period with a circle missile on the power play, erasing Washington’s 1-0 lead.
The Flyers’ men’s advantage fell from 1 to 3 and the penalty kill ended 2 for 3.
The PK need to improve considerably from the 30th percentage of 73.1 last season. The club has acquired the staff to do this. Atkinson, Ristolainen, Ryan Ellis, and Nate Thompson can all kill penalties.
• Substitute Kevin Hayes, injured, Morgan Frost did not score a goal in his second preseason game. He played 13:41 plus minutes with confidence after shaking a few nerves from his preseason debut on Thursday night.
He had a good forward failure that created a turnaround and led to a scoring opportunity in the second period. He has yet to claim victory over the second-line center post. The Flyers will certainly give him at least one more preseason game, maybe two, to give him more opportunities to build offense and build confidence.
Both teams carried out a shootout (a new element of preseason games when the teams agree) and Frost scored on his attempt.
• Who flipped the switch?
Wells Fargo Center suffered a minor power outage with 2:54 minutes left in the second period. The arena was slightly darker. The game went through the second intermission and the remaining 2:54 minutes were basically played as the start of the third period.
“In the second period of tonight’s game, we encountered an electrical problem that briefly cut power to a limited section of the arena,” a Wells Fargo Center spokesperson said in the third period. . “The power has now been fully restored. We appreciate the patience and understanding of our guests.”
• The Flyers are off Sunday before a back-to-back show starting next week. They will host the Bruins on Monday (7 p.m. ET / NBCSP) and travel to Bridgeport, Connecticut, to face the Islanders on Tuesday at Webster Bank Arena (7 p.m. ET).
Four days ago, Vigneault said he expected more of the cuts at the time of this back-to-back set. Excluding injured players, the club’s side roster is 43. The Flyers must be a maximum of 23 players by the regular season opener on October 15 and can only have 22 (one additional striker, one additional defender) for salary cap reasons.
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