Takeaways: Capitals Fall To Flyers As Cristall & Miroshnichenko Stand Out While Vrana's First Game Back Doesn't Go As Planned

WASHINGTON — The Washington Capitals were in for a challenge as they faced Morgan Frost, Joel Farabee, Bobby Brink and a handful of top prospects for the Philadelphia Flyers, and y there were flashes of strong play, they couldn't prevail.

Andrew Cristall and Ivan Miroshnichenko scored, but ultimately, struggles on defense led to a 6-2 loss.

Here are all the takeaways from the defeat.

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Andrew Cristall Has Strong Showing

Andrew Cristall is in an interesting situation going into this season, as he has to make the Capitals out of camp if he wants to play pro hockey to start the season. Otherwise, he's headed back to juniors and will have to wait to be of age before taking that next step.

That said, this preseason is a big test for him, and he got off to a great start with an impressive first game.

Cristall was strong on his skates and playing with speed and confidence, while making smart passes and impressive plays. He broke away on one occasion and also scored on a nice one-time play from Alex Alexeyev while logging important minutes and getting power-play ice time.

It's promising for the 19-year-old, who wasn't the fastest in skate testing but showed that he can play at a high level when put in game situations.

Ivan Miroshnichenko Continues Impressive Start To Camp, Resembles Alex Ovechkin

In addition to Cristall, Ivan Miroshnichenko got on the board, and it was very reminiscent of a younger Alex Ovechkin.

On a second-period power play with D.C. down by two, Miroshnichenko attempting a one-timer from Ovechkin's office, Miroshnichenko stayed with it and sniped a rocket of a wrist shot past Carson Bjarnason to put D.C. on the board.

Miroshnichenko has been impressive to start camp, as he led in skate testing and has more than kept up with the veterans. He's looking to start the season up at the NHL level after getting 21 games up with the Capitals last season and finishing his year with the AHL's Hershey Bears on a strong note.

Jakub Vrana's Return Doesn't Go As Planned

Jakub Vrana's had a strong start to training camp, but his first game back at Capital One Arena since 2021 didn't go according to plan.

Though he had speed out of the gate and the first shot of the game, he couldn't get much going with linemates Hendrix Lapierre and Ethen Frank as they struggled to generate offense or get much going. He did generate quite a few shots, though.

Vrana was ultimately a minus-3, and though he picked thing sup at the end of the game and had a flurry of looks on a late power play in the third, he just couldn't convert.

2024 Picks Make Debuts, Defense Struggles

Terik Parascak, Leon Muggli and Eriks Mateiko all made their NHL preseason debuts and impressed in their own ways.

Parascak was fast and confident as time went on, and he picked up an assist while logging time on the power play. Muggli, meanwhile, was moving the puck well up the ice and helped Trevor van Riemsdyk by battling hard and trying to play a shutdown role. Mateiko had a penalty for boarding but stood out at center with his size and strength.

At the end of the day, the defense struggled to shut things down, and the Flyers ultimately took advantage.

Top Shelf Takes

- Clay Stevenson stood out with a handful of ten-bell saves after taking over the net for Hunter Shepard, who stopped 11 of 14 shots. The defense in front of both left a bit to be desired.

- Ethan Bear had an assist and looked comfortable playing in his first game since March after time in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assist Program.