POSTGAME NOTEBOOK: Flyers 3, Caps 1

The Ghost Of Saturday Night - Although they jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on Aliaksei Protas' power-play goal in the fourth minute of Saturday's exhibition match against the Flyers in Philadelphia, the Caps returned home on the short end of a 3-1 score at night's end. The Flyers dressed a varsity roster while Washington iced a far less representative lineup, and the youthful Caps held their own against a remade Philly team that looks markedly different from last season's model.

The Caps went into the third period all even at 1-1, but Cam Atkinson put the Flyers ahead for good two minutes into the third and Scott Laughton added an insurance marker on a breakaway late in the frame. Washington wasn't able to solve Flyers goalie Martin Jones at even strength.
Starting his first game of the preseason, Ilya Samsonov turned in a good performance, stopping 28 of 31 shots. But the Caps committed too many turnovers and weren't able to mount enough in the way of sustained pressure on the forecheck or in the offensive zone, often because of those turnovers.
"There were some good things that we did," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "The chances were probably pretty even. It came down to the third period, and so [the Flyers] got the one, and I thought [Justin Schultz] did a pretty good job on coverage; he was draped all over [Atkinson]. But it was [virtually] an empty net, and somehow he was able to push it in.
"On the third one, it was a possession change in the offensive zone. The turnovers that we're making, they're not necessarily from the defensive zone. It's from our possession in the offensive zone where we have the puck, and we are just not taking care of the details with that. I thought we had a chance to win the hockey game, we just didn't get it done."
Leaders Of The Pack - Last season, the Caps' ostensible fourth line of Carl Hagelin, Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway was the team's most durable and consistent unit, and they achieved the rather remarkable and rare feat of playing in all 56 games on the same line together.
Laviolette had a meeting with the trio before last season, and he told them they'd be given more ice time and more responsibility, and they proved worthy of the staff's trust in them, night in and night out. The Dowd line was among the best fourth lines in the League last season, with all three players taking on a large share of the penalty-killing chores for one of the best shorthanded outfits in the circuit, and also manning the ice in the latter stages of games in which Washington was protecting a slim late lead.
In an acknowledgement of the respect and trust those three players have earned, Laviolette put the alternate captain's "A" on the sweaters of each member of that line for Saturday's game in Philly and had them on the ice for the game's opening face-off.
Hagelin was a sixth-round draft choice, Dowd was drafted in the seventh round and Hathaway was an undrafted college free agent. All three have had to work hard and earn everything they've gotten in the game, so it was special to see all three of them in a leadership role on Saturday night.
"I don't know, we're probably the oldest guys in the lineup, or something like that," downplayed Dowd after Saturday's game. "It's always good to get that gesture. We've kind of been around a little bit and earned that right. I've obviously never had that, and I know Hath hasn't either. Maybe Hags has; but yeah, it's always a compliment to get that.
"From Lavi, it's probably just confidence in us as a line and just another responsibility, which is always good, right? You always want to feel like you're contributing."
Halfway There - After their loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia on Saturday night, the Caps are halfway through their six-game slate of exhibition contests. As of Sunday morning's dual practices, their roster includes 37 players (23 forwards, 10 defensemen and four goaltenders).
A small group of players took to the ice at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday and the larger group - comprised mostly of veterans and players who are certain to be on the opening night roster - practiced at noon. Within the next few days, the Caps will have their roster trimmed sufficiently so that they'll have just one group practicing daily. The AHL Hershey Bears open their 2021 training camp tomorrow, Oct. 4.
The Caps' last three games of the preseason are on Monday (at New Jersey), Wednesday (at Boston) and Friday (against Philadelphia at home). Once the preseason is in the books, the Caps' hockey operations department will have all of next weekend to mull over its roster options. Opening night rosters must be submitted to the NHL offices by 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 11, a week from tomorrow.