Tuch, Kyrou each scores twice, Capitals defeat Flyers for fourth win in past five

WASHINGTON -- Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou each scored two goals in the Washington Capitals’ 5-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

Aliaksei Protas also scored, and Dylan Strome had three assists for the Capitals (7-4-0), who went 4-1-0 on a five-game homestand. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jack St. Ivany each had two assists, and Logan Thompson made 23 saves.

“Probably our most complete 60 minutes and didn’t let them get a whole lot of sustained zone time besides the two penalties in the third, but other than that a really solid game,” Strome said. “And when we did have a little bit of a blunder, ‘LT’ was there for us.”

Tuch has scored four goals in his past two games, linemate Kyrou, a fellow offseason trade acquisition, has eight points (three goals, five assists) in his past five, and Strome, who centers the line, has six points (one goal, five assists) in his past two.

As for why the line has had success, Kyrou said, “It’s hard to say. I think mostly just time. Practicing together, kind of getting to know each other’s little habits on the ice. Where each guy likes to go and reading off that. You just learn that over time.”

Sean Couturier and Matvei Michkov scored for the Flyers (3-8-4), who have lost three straight (0-2-1) and were playing the second of back-to-back games, having lost 4-3 in overtime to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Joseph Woll made 25 saves.

“At times this year, we're soft, I would say,” said Couturier, the Philadelphia captain. “Not hard on battles and lose battles easily. It’s one thing to make mistakes and not win a battle, but if you're in there trying hard and stuff, that's different. But, yeah, we definitely need to pick up our physicality. It goes into competing as well, I think.”

Tuch gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead 1:50 into the first period, snapping the rebound of a St. Ivany shot past Woll from between the circles. St. Ivany, a defenseman, was making his Washington debut after he was claimed off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday.

“I think we kind of took it to them the first five, 10 minutes,” Kyrou said. “That’s what we wanted to do and we just kind of kept the ball rolling after that.”

Couturier tied it 1-1 at 4:36 of the second period when he redirected Nick Seeler’s point shot past Thompson for his first goal of the season.

Kyrou put Washington ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 7:14. Woll made a pad save on Strome’s shot from the bottom of the right circle, and the puck went to Kyrou, who scored on a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle before Woll could get across the crease.

Protas made it 3-1 at 16:47, tipping in Matt Roy’s point shot at the right post for his first goal of the season.

“It felt like we sort of sucked the life out of their team in the second period and put ourselves into a good spot heading into the third period,” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said.

Michkov pulled the Flyers within 3-2 on the power play at 9:44 of the third period. After Trevor Zegras’ shot hit a defender in front, Denver Barkey got the puck in the slot and slid it over to Michkov, who swept it in at the right post.

Kyrou pushed it to 4-2 at 12:51 when he scored from the right post after St. Ivany’s shot deflected off Seeler in front, and Tuch scored into an empty net at 17:36 for the 5-2 final.

“Obviously, we need more battle,” Flyers coach Rick Tocchet said. “I think throughout the year it has been inconsistent. That’s a big team over there. We expected that, but I thought we got a little shy at certain parts of the game. We had pockets of it, but again if a team makes a push, we need some pushback, sure.”

NOTES: The Capitals won their sixth straight home game against the Flyers dating to March 1, 2024. … St. Ivany became the fourth Washington defenseman with multiple assists in his franchise debut, joining Rasmus Sandin (three on March 4, 2023), Gabriel Carlsson (two on March 4, 2023) and Mike McEwen (two on Nov. 27, 1984). … Michkov became the second Philadelphia player in the past 20 years to score at least nine goals in a single October, joining Couturier (nine in 2017). The last to hit double digits in October was Simon Gagne (10 in 2005). … Zegras extended his point streak to six games (10 points; three goals, seven assists).