Apr 16, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Capitals goalie Braden Holtby (70) makes a save on Philadelphia Flyers center Claude Giroux (28) in the second period in game two of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Philadelphia Flyers dominated much of Game 2 versus the Washington Capitals, but took a tough loss mostly due to special teams and goaltending

It doesn’t take a statistician to tell you that the Philadelphia Flyers probably deserved better against the Washington Capitals in Game 2 on Saturday than a 4-1 loss. Just a quick glance at the box score would show you Braden Holtby making 42 saves for the Capitals, and the Flyers piling up 19 shots on goal in the first period alone.

Alas, making Holtby work a lot harder than he did in game 1 wasn’t enough. Despite all the early pressure, the Flyers fell behind 1-0 after a power play goal. It was a case of really bad penalty killing, Nick Schultz lost his stick, and Chris VandeVelde made an ill-fated effort to hand over his stick. The end result was effectively a 5-on-2 power play and a way-too-easy-goal.

The Flyers had a great chance to tie the game a few minutes later with a long 5 on 3. The Flyers generated chances, but Holtby played really well and the Caps blocked a few shots to help him out. The biggest turning point of the game was a truly horrific goal conceded by Steve Mason. Mason had looked okay before then, and recovered thereafter, but the damage was done.

Game Events

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Forwards

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The Flyers must be pleased with Giroux and Voracek getting the better of Backstrom and Ovechkin. Simmonds led the team with 6 shots on goal, while Voracek added 4 more and a goal during 4v4.

It was another physical game, with the teams combining for 74 credited hits. Simmonds and White led the Flyers’ forward with 5 hits each.

The new second line of Gagner-Schenn-Raffl held their own, mostly against the tricky Kuznetsov line.

The new Cousins line with Scott Laughton played very well, as they did a few months ago during the regular season. Laughton had 5 shot attempts, all on goal.

Rounding out the Flyers’ performances was the 4th line, having another good game. Bellemare and VandeVelde didn’t individually get many shots, although VandeVelde hit the post late in the game.

For all the Flyers’ possession, it didn’t come from faceoff wins. The Flyers won 47% overall, and the usually dominant Giroux won only 46%.

Defense