Capitals vs. Flyers: Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou Score Twice Each as Washington Rolls to a 5-2 Win

Alex Tuch needed all of 1:50 to get on the board Wednesday night, and by the time he slid the puck into an empty net in the final minutes, his first season in Washington had officially crossed from hot start into franchise-history territory.

Tuch and Jordan Kyrou each scored twice, Dylan Strome piled up three assists, and the Washington Capitals handled the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 at Capital One Arena. Per the AP, Tuch is only the second player in Capitals history with at least nine goals in his first 11 games with the team, joining Dino Ciccarelli, who scored 12 in his first 11 to close the 1988-89 season.

Fast Start, Brief Wobble, Then a Squeeze

Washington came out like it had somewhere to be. At 1:50 of the first, Jack St. Ivany put a shot on Joseph Woll from outside the right circle, Strome got a stick on the loose puck, and Tuch hammered it home from between the circles. St. Ivany was making his Capitals debut after being claimed off waivers from Winnipeg on Saturday, per NHL.com. Nice first day at the office.

"I think we kind of took it to them the first five, 10 minutes," Kyrou said. "That's what we wanted to do and we just kind of kept the ball rolling after that."

The Flyers hung around and pulled even at 4:36 of the second, when Sean Couturier redirected a Nick Seeler point shot past Logan Thompson for his first goal of the season. It didn't last. Trevor Zegras went to the box for slashing Tuch at 7:03, and the Capitals barely needed any of the power play. Woll kicked out a Strome shot from the right side, the rebound landed on Kyrou's stick at the bottom of the left circle, and he buried it at 7:14 before Woll could recover. 2-1.

Then Aliaksei Protas made it 3-1 at 16:47, tipping a Matt Roy point shot at the right post for his first goal of the season. Capitals coach Spencer Carbery described that second period about as vividly as possible: "It felt like we sort of sucked the life out of their team in the second period and put ourselves into a good spot heading into the third period."

The Turning Point: Philly's Window Slams Shut

Philadelphia had a real chance to steal this one in the third. Roy took a roughing minor on Porter Martone at 9:36, and the Flyers cashed in at 9:44. Zegras fired into traffic, Denver Barkey scooped up the carom in the slot, and Matvei Michkov tapped it in from the right post. 3-2, and suddenly it was a game again.

It got better for Philadelphia, briefly. Roy was also tagged with an abuse-of-officials minor at 9:44, giving the Flyers another power play while they had momentum. They didn't score. And at 12:51, back at even strength, St. Ivany's shot clipped Seeler in front and popped to Kyrou at the right post for a 4-2 lead. Window closed. Pierre-Luc Dubois then sprung Tuch on the break, and he deposited the puck into a vacant net at 17:36 with the Flyers' goalie pulled for an extra attacker.

Strome put it plainly: "Probably our most complete 60 minutes and didn't let them get a whole lot of sustained zone time besides the two penalties in the third, but other than that a really solid game."

Washington's New Top Line Is Cooking

Tuch finished with two goals, a plus-3 rating and 18:41 of ice time, and per NHL.com he has four goals in his last two games. The AP noted he arrived in a trade from Buffalo and signed an eight-year, $84 million contract extension in June. So far, the receipts look great.

Kyrou, another offseason trade acquisition, has eight points in his past five games, and Strome, who centers the line, has six points in his past two, according to NHL.com. Asked why it is clicking, Kyrou kept the explanation simple: "It's hard to say. I think mostly just time. Practicing together, kind of getting to know each other's little habits on the ice."

St. Ivany finished with two assists in his debut, and NHL.com said he became just the fourth Washington defenseman with multiple assists in his franchise debut. Dubois also had two assists, Roy threw nine hits, and Thompson made 23 saves on 25 shots.

For Philadelphia, Michkov's goal was his ninth of the season and his fifth on the power play. NHL.com noted he is only the second Flyer in the past 20 years with at least nine goals in a single October, joining Couturier, who had nine in 2017. Couturier went 12-2 on faceoffs, Zegras extended his point streak to six games, and Woll stopped 25 of 29 shots.

Numbers Worth Knowing

• 25-14. Washington blocked 25 shots to Philadelphia's 14, which is how you protect a lead.
• 32-23. The Capitals also won the hits column, with Roy alone accounting for nine.
• 57.7 percent. The Flyers dominated the faceoff dot, 30-22. Possession off the draw did not turn into goals.
• 1-for-3 vs. 1-for-4. Each team scored once with the extra man. Washington's put it ahead; Philadelphia's only pulled it close.
• 6. Straight home wins for the Capitals against the Flyers, dating to March 1, 2024, per NHL.com.

What It Means

Washington moves to 7-4-0 with 14 points, 6-2-0 at home, and wrapped a five-game homestand at 4-1-0. That is a team building a real identity around a reworked top line.

Philadelphia drops to 3-8-4 with 10 points and 1-5-1 on the road. This was the back half of a back-to-back after a 4-3 overtime loss to Columbus on Tuesday, and it was a third straight loss right after the Flyers had finally strung together three wins following an 0-6-3 start. The Flyers host Utah on Sunday.

The postgame tone from Philadelphia was blunt. "At times this year, we're soft, I would say," Couturier said. Coach Rick Tocchet echoed it: "Obviously, we need more battle," he said. "I thought we got a little shy at certain parts of the game."

Ocean's Eleven, Capitals Edition

Danny Ocean spent an entire movie assembling his crew. Washington did it in one offseason, and the heist is going according to plan: Tuch shooting, Kyrou finishing, Strome running the whole operation. The Flyers, meanwhile, are still trying to find a getaway car.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Postgame quotes as reported by NHL.com; additional details from the Associated Press.