Takeaways: Defense, Penalty Kill Shine As Capitals Shut Down Flyers

For the Washington Capitals, Tuesday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers was all about shutting them down. They did that — and then some — for another big win.

Washington's penalty kill provided two shorthanded goals, and John Carlson, Jakob Chychrun and the defense stepped up en route to a 4-1 victory.

Here are all the takeaways from the win as D.C. extends the winning streak to four games to begin the year 4-1-0.

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Penalty Kill Takes Things To Another Level, Power Play Needs Work

The Capitals' penalty kill has impressed to open the 2024-25 regular season, and on Tuesday, they took things to a whole other level.

In the first period, Nic Dowd scored on a shorthanded breakaway to make it 1-0, and on a later kill, Andrew Mangiapane got past the defense and fired a rocket past Samuel Ersson to add to D.C.'s lead.

Washington's penalty kill was fundamental in providing offense, as it got scoring chances over the course of the game, and ultimately went 3-for-3. The Capitals have the ninth-best penalty kill in the league (85.7) to open the year and only continue to get stronger with Dowd, Mangiapane and even Aliaksei Protas providing a handful of opportunities.

The only weak spot for Washington was on the power play, as it went 0-for-5 while surrendering quite a few shorthanded chances that luckily, Philadelphia couldn't capitalize on.

Defense & Lindgren Shut Down Flyers, Capitals Keep Getting Offense From Blue Line

Over the final 40 minutes of play, the Capitals did everything they could to limit the Flyers, allowing just eight shots through the final two periods. They did a good job of not just controlling the puck, but not allowing Philly to have any clean entries or passes.

Meanwhile, Charlie Lindgren made some strong saves, including a stunning glove stop in the second period. He finished the night with 17 saves on 18 shots for a .944 save percentage.

When Travis Sanheim eventually broke through to make things 2-1 early in the third period, the defense stepped up again to provide some insurance and key scoring for Washington.

After a great turnover from Dylan Strome and subsequent passing from him and Connor McMichael, John Carlson put home a shot to make it 3-1.

Carlson and Strome now have points in five straight games to open the 2024-25 regular season.

Later in the period, Jakob Chychrun rifled a shot on net that beat Ersson to make it 4-1 with his second goal of the season. The 26-year-old now has points in three of his last four games and three points in his last two games overall.

The Capitals' blue line continues to be a fundamental part of D.C.'s offense this season, which has managed at least three goals in each game so far after averaging under three all last season.

Top Shelf Takes

- Connor McMichael picked up two assists and continues to play a fundamental role on the top-6. He is now on a three-game point streak, with five points over that span, and he's on a point-per-game pace to open the season to boot.

- Brandon Duhaime picked up an assist for his first point as a Capital.

- Jakub Vrana got an assist as well, the 100th of his career.