The Flyers returned from their post-Olympic break but fell to the Capitals 3-1. The loss puts the Flyers in a far deeper hole than they were before the break when it comes to their now-slimmer playoff hopes.
The basics
First period: No scoring
Second period: 13:52 – Rasmus Sandin (Hendrix Lapierre, Jakob Chychrun)
Third period: 0:29 – Noah Cates (Travis Sanheim, Bobby Brink), 14:08 – Trevor van Riemsdyk (Declan Chisholm, Aliaksei Protas), 19:34 – Aliaksei Protas (Unassisted) (SHG) (ENG)
SOG: 24 (PHI) – 28 (WAS)
Some takeaways
Flyers playing loose, relaxed
Whether it was the time off or the number of practices between games, Philadelphia looked cool, calm, and collected for most of the first half of the contest. It wasn’t a team that was wilting under the pressure, but more of a club that knew they had not much to lose in the big picture. So, why not try to keep things simple and see what happens.
The Flyers were buzzing quite a bit around the net without getting into a very heavy game against a traditionally very heavy team in terms of contact and physicality. It might have explained the extremely quick pace, nearly infraction-free game that had some tight checking in the neutral zone in the second period. Otherwise, the game looked almost like an exhibition game, with both teams trying to play between the whistles without much vitriol or hatred after the whistles.
Sanheim shows no rust or lag
A silver medalist for Team Canada, Flyers defenseman Travis Sanheim did himself proud during the competition. And with very little down time, the blueliner was paired with fellow Olympian Ramsus Ristolainen in his first game back from Italy. Sanheim showed very little tiredness or exhaustion despite playing across the big pond back on Sunday. He took a regular shift and was rarely caught out of position. It was a typical Sanheim game: solid, not too flashy, but incredibly consistent from start to finish. He also got the primary assist on Philadelphia’s game-tying goal early in the third. However, like Ristolainen, he was on the wrong end of Washington’s game-winning goal.
Vladar does Vladar things
After representing Team Czechia in the Olympics and not heading back with a medal, goaltender Dan Vladar set off on the remaining 26 games this season with a very tedious opening period. Washington took about 13 minutes to create any semblance of sustained pressure, and only managed two shots in that amount of time in what was a very fast-paced, rather whistle-free affair. Vladar came up big against Washington’s Alex Ovechkin but stoned him in close on a one-timer. Washington had the majority of chances in the latter stages of the opening frame, but Vladar was up to the task.
The Flyers’ keeper had a busy second period, with his biggest save on Ryan Leonard who had a one-timer that the goalie got a piece of. A bit of traffic ensued in front of Vladar but the whistle went before Washington buried a rebound. He was also the beneficiary of a similar stoppage minutes later when the Capitals looked to have a golden opportunity to score. Unfortunately, Washington finally broke the scoreless tie when Rasmus Sandin scored his first goal in roughly half a season when he beat Vladar on the back door. The goalie argued for goalie interference briefly afterwards but it appeared that Sanheim made more contact with him than any Capital did.
#ALLCAPS 1-0. RASMUS SANDIN SCORES FIRST pic.twitter.com/9LKfsudZK4
— Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) February 26, 2026
It was one of the few times Vladar was clearly and visibly irked, but he settled down and kept the Flyers from being two shots away from tying it. He was fine during a Washington power play in the third, making a great save that kept defenseman Cam York from being the goat (no, not the greatest of all time) after his minor penalty. Overall, Vladar stopped 25 of 27 shots for a solid .926 save percentage.
Ristolainen keeps chugging along
Rasmus Ristolainen didn’t do a lot to lower his trade stock with the pending trade deadline looming. The defenseman looked fine most of the night, not dazzling or highly gifted, but just doing what needed to be done to be on the right side of the puck. Paired with Sanheim, Ristolainen played a decent game while eating up over 20 minutes. His one highlight was moving his way deep into the Washington end and nearly breaking the 1-1 deadlock with a gentle backhand. He also got into a bit of a scrum after the whistle. Sadly, Ristolainen had a rush up ice but then looked completely out of sorts in his own end on a play by Washington that caused Washington to take the lead.
Trevor van Riemsdyk makes it 2-1 Washington. pic.twitter.com/ZD8IbTjWUo
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) February 26, 2026
Bad ice?
The game had a few Flyers spinning out on the ice. Garnet Hathaway couldn’t find his footing late in the first and winger Owen Tippett had a few blow outs flying around the offensive corners. Thankfully neither player crashed heavily into the boards from such mishaps.
Michkov starting off well
The Flyers started with the line of Matvei Michkov, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink. Michkov had the first shot opportunity of the evening, but the shot was deflected off a Capitals shinpad. What was a good forerunner possibly was seeing Michkov’s first shift being 48 seconds over two stoppages. If there’s no quick 20-second to 25-second shifts, chances are the Russian should be a little more productive. It was a good omen of the initial shifts Philadelphia had. Later in the first the line was buzzing again, drawing the first penalty.
Michkov nearly had the game’s first goal in the second when he tried driving home a rebound before trying to bounce a shot from the side off anything for a deflection. However after 40 minutes, Michkov again was under 10 minutes of ice time five-on-five with 9:09 (and another 42 seconds on the power play for a total of 9:51 through two). A few more minutes would’ve been ideal, considering Michkov was getting a 71.15 per cent share of the expected goals. Fortunately, the same line started the third and was rewarded when Cates and Michkov crashed the net, with Cates getting a deflection and tying things up at 1-1.
Noah Cates snapped an 18-game goalless drought after redirecting Travis Sanheim’s shot to tie the game at 1-1.
— Andrew Coté (@acote_88) February 26, 2026
Goal: Cates (11) pic.twitter.com/P5MzSHEhOB
Michkov looked much like his old self on this night, being a nuisance to the Capitals in the offensive zone and showing a willingness to get into traffic and the dirty areas. And he had a glorious chance to get the go-ahead tally in the third but Thompson made a great pad save at the door step. An extremely good first impression in what will be a stretch that will see Philadelphia essentially play every other day. He finished the night with nearly 17 minutes of ice (16:52) and had two shots.
Cates avoids injury, as does Zegras
Noah Cates took a heavy hit about four minutes into the game and got up hobbling somewhat. It was a dirty hit from Hendrix Lapierre who clearly hit Cates on the numbers and drove him hard into the boards. Thankfully Cates got his arms out to cushion some of the blow and returned minutes later, trying to exact some revenge on Lapierre.
Late in the game, after van Riemsdyk scored to put Washington ahead, the defenseman nailed Trevor Zegras from behind. Zegras didn’t have time to put his arms up and took the full brunt of the hit on the numbers. A tussle ensued and despite the hit, Zegras didn’t leave the game. He might feel it a bit on Thursday, but should be good to go tomorrow night against the Rangers.
Final flurry fails
The Flyers pulled Vladar for the extra skater, and got a break when the Capitals got called for a delay of game penalty with just under 50 seconds to go. As per usual, the two-man advantage was foiled when Michkov couldn’t reach a shoot-around pass from Travis Konecny. The Caps got the puck and scored a short-handed, empty-net dagger.
All stats courtesy Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com
