Capitals gain upper hand early, deal loss to host Flyers

Nic Dowd and Andrew Mangiapane each scored short-handed goals in the first period to propel the Washington Capitals to a 4-1 road win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday on the front end of a home-and-home series.

Connor McMichael contributed two assists and Charlie Lindgren made 17 saves for Washington, which won its fourth straight game. The Capitals will welcome the Flyers to Capital One Arena on Wednesday evening for an early-season rematch.

Travis Sanheim scored the lone goal for Philadelphia, which has dropped five games in a row since winning its season opener. Samuel Ersson made 25 saves in a losing effort.

Dowd opened the scoring 3:49 into the contest. With his team down a man, Dowd chipped the puck past a pinching Egor Zamula in the Philadelphia offensive zone. Dowd then skated up ice with a half-step on the scrambling Flyers and roofed a backhander past Ersson.

Washington netted another short-handed tally with just under five minutes left in the first period. McMichael feathered a pass to Mangiapane, who skated in alone on Ersson and snapped a wrister inside the left post.

After a scoreless middle session, the Flyers got on the board just 34 seconds into the third period. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Sanheim got the puck in the left circle and drilled a wrist shot past the ear of Lindgren, just under the crossbar, for his first point of the season.

However, the momentum didn't last long for Philadelphia. Just 64 seconds later (on the same 4-on-4), Washington restored a two-goal cushion as John Carlson's centering pass angled off the skate of Zamula and into the net.

Jakob Chychrun's tally with 5:53 left put an exclamation point on the victory.

Lindgren's highlights included a flashy glove save on Bobby Brink from point-blank range in front of the net in the first period and a nice kick save on Scott Laughton in the second. However, Philadelphia struggled to generate much offense, managing just three shots in the second period and 18 for the game.

--Field Level Media