Jonny Brodzinski scores twice, Ryan Chesley dishes three assists, and Washington’s penalty kill turns the game. Knuble scores and assists in a physical Flyers preseason opener. Monday, September 21, 2026.

Washington Capitals 5, Philadelphia Flyers 2 Giant Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania

For the second straight September, the Washington Capitals came to Giant Center in Hershey and rolled past the Philadelphia Flyers in a preseason exhibition. Last year’s margin was 5-1. Monday night it was 5-2, with Washington showing exactly what coach Spencer Carbery has been preaching about wearing teams down over 60 minutes. The Caps came in off a 3-2 shootout loss to Boston the night before and turned in a far more complete performance. Jonny Brodzinski scored twice and Ryan Chesley ran the show with three assists. The difference: a brilliant five-minute penalty kill in the second period that sucked the life out of the building and gave Washington all the momentum it needed.

“I was happy for the guys because we did a lot of really good things tonight as a team,” said Carbery postgame. “And then you leave the rink going, ‘This guy looked good, this guy looked good,’ and that’s ultimately in the preseason what you want to do.”

How It Happened

First Period: The Flyers drew first blood. Cole Knuble — son of former Capital and Flyer Mike Knuble — created an early power play, and Jack Studnicka cashed it in at 2:42, taking the puck to the cage from down low on the left side and banking a shot off the far post. Knuble and Jett Luchanko earned the assists. Washington answered on the power play of their own after Garrett Wilson and Dylan McIlrath dropped the gloves — Noah Powell was also penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct — and Simon Benoit’s delay of game moments later handed the Capitals a 5-on-3. Aliaksei Protas got his stick on a Dylan Strome shot to deflect it in and tie it at 1-1. Ryan Leonard then beat Joseph Woll glove side at 19:18, a laser in the final 41 seconds of the first period, to give Washington a 2-1 lead.

Second Period: Knuble tied it at 2-2 at 8:06 — gathering below the goal line, threading to Hunter McDonald at the left point, who moved it to Oliver Bonk on the right. Bonk fed it back down low and Knuble bumped it home from just above the paint. But the real turn came minutes later when Andrew Cristall received a five-minute major and game misconduct for cross-checking Garrett Wilson in the face after Wilson had laid a clean hit on Ryan Leonard. The Flyers had a full five-minute power play — and Washington’s penalty kill was exceptional. Clay Stevenson, who had come on in relief of Charlie Lindgren as planned at the midpoint of the period, made a pair of big saves. The Caps cleared the puck eight times from six different penalty killers. In the final seconds of the major, Theodor Niederbach got loose on a breakaway and Woll had to make a crucial stop to keep it tied.

The momentum shift was immediate. Thirty seconds after killing the penalty, Ryan Chesley sent the puck from his own blue line to Jordan Kyrou at the far line, Kyrou slid a creative touch pass to Dylan Strome, and Strome had a two-on-none. He beat Woll glove side — the same spot Leonard had found a period earlier — to make it 3-2 at 18:17. “That penalty kill in the second was obviously huge,” Strome said. “I felt like we controlled most of it.”

Third Period: Carson Bjarnason started the third for Philadelphia. Less than two minutes in, Chesley moved the puck below the Flyers’ goal line to Ethen Frank, who found Brodzinski with time and space in the slot. Brodzinski’s one-timer made it 4-2 at 1:57. “Great pass,” Brodzinski said. “Got it right on my tape; I just did the rest.” With the Flyers back on the power play at 7:55, Brodzinski did it again — intercepting and firing Martin Fehervary’s puck short-side high over Bjarnason at 9:45 for the shorthanded goal that closed it out at 5-2. Philadelphia managed just two shots in the final period.

Goaltending

Joseph Woll started and played the first two periods, stopping 16 of 19 shots (.842 SV%) with the night’s best individual stop coming on Niederbach’s breakaway during Washington’s five-minute kill. Carson Bjarnason played the third, stopping 6 of 8 shots (.750 SV%, 2 GA). Charlie Lindgren started for Washington before Clay Stevenson relieved him at the midpoint of the second as planned — Stevenson was perfect in relief, stopping all 6 shots he faced (1.000 SV%).

Special Teams

Philadelphia: 1-for-3 PP | Washington: 1-for-3 PP | Washington: 1 SHG Penalties: PHI 11 min (4 infractions), WSH 24 min (5 infractions) Andrew Cristall accounted for 15 of Washington’s 24 penalty minutes — a cross-checking major and game misconduct. Washington killed the resulting five-minute advantage with eight clears from six different penalty killers, then scored a shorthanded goal against the Flyers’ power play in the third.

Three Stars

⭐ Jonny Brodzinski (WSH) — 2 goals (including SHG), 0 assists ⭐⭐ Ryan Chesley (WSH) — 0 goals, 3 assists ⭐⭐⭐ Dylan Strome (WSH) — 1 goal, 1 assist

Shots by Period

Scoring Summary

First Period

• 2:42 PHI — Jack Studnicka (1) (PP) — Assists: Cole Knuble (1), Jett Luchanko (1)
• 9:35 WSH — Aliaksei Protas (1) (PP) — Assists: Dylan Strome (1), Jacob MacDonald (1)
• 19:18 WSH — Ryan Leonard (1) — Assists: Ryan Chesley (1), Justin Holl (1)

Second Period

• 8:06 PHI — Cole Knuble (1) — Assists: Oliver Bonk (1), Hunter McDonald (1)
• 18:17 WSH — Dylan Strome (1) — Assists: Jordan Kyrou (1), Ryan Chesley (2)

Third Period

• 1:57 WSH — Jonny Brodzinski (2) — Assists: Ethen Frank (1), Ryan Chesley (3)
• 9:45 WSH — Jonny Brodzinski (3) (SHG) — Assists: Martin Fehervary (1), Theodor Niederbach (1)

Key Notes

• Washington has now won back-to-back preseason exhibitions against Philadelphia at Giant Center — 5-1 last year, 5-2 Monday night
• This was Washington’s second preseason game — they dropped a 3-2 shootout to Boston the night before; Monday was a noticeably more complete performance
• Spencer Carbery has spent five years in Hershey — three as Hershey Bears head coach, winning Calder Cups with the organization; his postgame comments reflected genuine emotion about returning
• Cole Knuble is the son of Mike Knuble — Mike Knuble played for both Washington and Philadelphia over his career; Cole scored and assisted Monday in front of a mix of Capitals and Flyers fans at Giant Center
• Washington’s five-minute penalty kill was the turning point — eight clears, six different penalty killers, Stevenson with two big stops, and a Niederbach breakaway save by Woll kept it tied; the Caps scored 30 seconds after the kill ended
• Andrew Cristall cross-checked Garrett Wilson in the face after Wilson delivered a clean hit on Ryan Leonard — the five-minute major and game misconduct gave Philadelphia a power play they could not convert
• Denver Barkey left in the second period after taking a hard hit from Martin Fehervary late in the first — he returned for one shift and left; his status bears watching
• Brodzinski scored in consecutive preseason games — he also scored the night before against Boston; his two goals Monday included a shorthanded strike against an active Flyers power play
• All five incumbent Flyers defensemen rested — Travis Sanheim, Rasmus Ristolainen, Cam York, Jamie Drysdale, and Nick Seeler all sat; the game was an evaluation for David Jiricek, Oliver Bonk, Hunter McDonald, Ty Murchison, and Simon Benoit competing for roster spots
• Philadelphia managed just 2 shots in the third period and had no 5-on-5 shot on goal until fewer than five minutes remained in the game