Bobby Brink and Morgan Frost netted a pair of goals each to lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 6-2 exhibition victory on Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena. Five of the six Philly goals came off the sticks of established NHL players, while Washington’s goals came from 2023 second-rounder Andrew Cristall and 2022 first-rounder Ivan Miroshnichenko.
Caps coach Spencer Carbery tabbed Cristall as one of his team’s standouts in Sunday’s preseason opener.
“He was probably our biggest bright spot on the night,” says Carbery. “Around the puck all night; it sort of seems to follow him around. He had a bunch of good opportunities that he was able to create, and he scores a goal. So yeah, I thought he was very noticeable.”
Brink started the scoring with a backhander to the shelf off the rush; he took a nice backhand feed from Joel Farabee along the right half wall, sending it over the left shoulder of Caps’ goaltender Hunter Shepard at the four-minute mark of the first.
Not long after the Brink goal, Cristall nearly tied the game up on a breakaway. Cristall was able to thread the puck between the pads of Philly netminder Ivan Fedotov, but the puck didn’t get to the goal line, and was frozen beneath those pads.
“I thought five-hole was kind of the move there,” says Cristall. “Maybe I didn’t pull it far enough to my backhand, and it got caught up in his skate. But don’t hate the move; it just doesn’t sometimes go in.”
Just past the midpoint of the first, the Caps were able to generate some zone time but no shots on net during a Morgan Frost minor penalty. Within a minute of exiting the box, Frost was able to double the Philly lead to 2-0 with a chip shot from in tight at 16:44.
After taking a tee-up from Alex Alexeyev, Cristall delivered a drive from center point that clanked off a Flyers defender and went behind Fedotov late in the first, cutting the Philly cushion to 2-1.
“It feels good,” says Cristall of the goal. “Feels like I should have had a couple more, but a really great feeling, and a really good pass, and pretty fortunate it went in.”
The second period was largely a festival of icings, but each side managed to put a power-play marker on the board. Philly struck first, pushing the score to 3-1 at 10:22 of the second when Farabee drilled a shot home from the bumper spot, following a pair precision feeds from Frost and Owen Tippett, respectively.
Clay Stevenson came on in relief of Shepard at that juncture of the contest, and Stevenson had to be sharp early; his first save was a dazzler. He gloved down Jett Luchanko’s bid from in tight on a short-ice 2-on-1 to keep the Caps within a pair of the visitors.
As they did in the first period, the Caps cut into the Philly lead late in the frame, doing so on the power play this time. With help from Terik Parascak and Alex Limoges, Ivan Miroshnichenko launched a wrist rocket past Fedotov from the left dot, making it a 3-2 game at 18:35.
Limoges, a native of Winchester, Va., had a host of family and friends in the building. A 24-goal scorer for Calder Cup champion Hershey last season, Sunday’s game was meaningful for him and his family.
“A lot of fun,” says Limoges. “I don’t know the count for sure, but a lot of family showed up, which is special to me. It’s always fun. I was wearing that Little Caps jersey for so long in my life, and now, the real Caps. It was definitely a lot of fun to be out there and play in front of them. Hopefully, I can do that a little more this year.”
Entering the third, it was still a one-goal game. But Philadelphia salted it away with a trio of tallies in the final frame. Brink netted a second backhander at 5:37, and Olle Lycksell followed with the Flyers’ fourth backhand goal of the game at 6:51. Frost closed out the scoring with a power-play goal at the 12-minute mark of the third.
Washington had a good afternoon in terms of possession, but it managed to get only 21 of its 61 shot attempts through to the Flyers’ net. Philly’s style favors a lot of shot-blocking, and the Flyers were in midseason form, blocking 26 shots on the afternoon.
One of four Washington skaters making their NHL preseason debut on Sunday, Parascak teed up nine shot attempts, but five were blocked and four missed the mark. But he was able to collect a point, setting up Miroshnichenko’s power-play goal.
“The pace of play, everything is quicker,” says Parascak. “You’ve got to make quicker decisions, you’ve got to keep your feet moving at all times. And obviously, bigger bodies. So [I need to] put on a little strength, and be ready to compete every shift.”
Among the rest of the Washington prospects, Carbery noted that 18-year-old Swiss defenseman Leon Muggli – the team’s second-round choice in 2024 – also turned in a good performance in his own NHL preseason debut.
“I thought Muggli was really solid, except for a PK clear,” says Carbery. “His touches were good; I thought he played well for a real young guy.”
“It was a dream come true,” says Muggli. “Putting the sweater on for a game from Washington was a dream come true, and I enjoyed every second of it.”
