PREVIEW 12:45 AM EST
Fresh off a successful 7-3-0 record during a stretch of 9 of 10 games on the road, the Eastern Conference leading Flyers (29-11-5) return home to face a formidable and hungry opponent. The Washington Capitals (25-14-7) have been inconsistent since their win at the Winter Classic, but are coming off a three-goal explosion in the third period of their most recent game, overtaking the Ottawa Senators, 3-1.
The first home game after a lengthy road trip often proves to a difficult one to win for the returning team. For whatever reason, there is a tendency to relax, especially after a successful road trip. They Flyers will need to dig deep once again to prevent this from happening to them. Philly now plays eight of its next 10 games at home, including three in a row starting tonight. The Caps are a tough challenger to start this phase.
No matter how tumultuous the last two months have been for the Caps, they remain one of the Flyers' most dangerous rivals in the conference. You have to figure that Washington will be fired up for this one. In addition, Alex Ovechkin has had a down season by his standards (including just 2 PPGs so far) and enters this tilt riding a three-game pointless streak. He's due to bust loose soon, and has a history of success against Philly.
Meanwhile, Nicklas Backstrom has not scored a goal in the last 20 games and has not had a multi-point game since Dec. 6. However, he has registered assists in four of the last 5 games. Over the last 20 games, Backstrom has 11 helpers.
The Flyers and Caps split their first two games this season. The Caps prevailed, 3-2, in OT at the Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 7. On Nov. 20, the Flyers struggled mightily early in the game, but rallied late and went on to prevail, 5-4, via shootout. The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Washington.
Both clubs have experienced unexpected problems with their power plays this season. I discussed the Caps struggles in a recent
Daily Drop at Versus.com, and every Flyers fan is familiar with the issues the club has had on the man advantage since late November.
For the season, Washington has connected at an 18.1 percent clip on the power play, while Philly is at 16.4 percent efficiency. On the flip side, the Caps have significantly improved their penalty killing this season, and currently rank sixth in the NHL with an 85.0 percent efficiency rate. Philly has been streaky on the PK all year, but has recently improved to 14th overall in the NHL with an 82.3 success rate. Mike Richards scored the team's seventh short handed goal (his third) of the season on Sunday against the Rangers. Washington has five shorties on the season, tallied by five different players.
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
Zherdev - Richards - Nodl
Hartnell - Briere - Leino
JVR - Carter - Giroux
Shelley - Betts - Powe
Coburn - Timonen
Meszaros - O'Donnell
Carle - Walker
Boucher/ Bobrovsky
CAPITALS
Ovechkin - Johansson - Laich
Chimera - Backstrom - Knuble
Hendricks - Perreault - A Gordon
King - Steckel - B Gordon
Schultz - Green
Carlson - Alzner
Erskine - Hannan
Neuvirth/Varlamov
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According to a report in the Russian media translated by Teemu "Euroflyers" Hytonen, an agent for Flyers' forward Nikolay Zherdev was quoted as saying that he'd been informed by the Flyers that the impending free agent would not be re-signed by the team at the end of the season and that the Zherdev camp would be on the hunt for offers during the offseason.
The report was quickly denied by Jay Grossman, Zherdev's NHL agent. Grossman deemed the report as "categorically untrue" and said that there has been "good, ongoing dialogue" between himself and Paul Holmgren all season.
Zherdev, like many European players, employs two agents: Grossman in North America and Alexander "Sacha" Tyzhnykh in Europe. It appears likely that it is was the Russian agent (a former pro goaltender) speaking up to the home media, as Grossman was flabbergasted by the story.
It would be extremely out of character for the Flyers to inform a roster player midway through a season that he won't be brought back for the next season. In addition, all negotiation would be done with Grossman.
It's certainly possible that Zherdev -- who has been in and out of Peter Laviolette's doghouse all season -- would talk with his agent at home and tell him that he's doubtful that he fits in the Flyers' plans beyond this season. It's also quite possible that the agent spoke without all the facts from the Grossman camp. In the past, Tyzhnykh was vocal about his client's situation while he was still playing in Columbus and New York.
Note that this is all conjecture on my part and unconfirmed as of yet, but I think it's the most logical scenario for what unfolded this week.
*****
On another European note, the Flyers have loaned Adirondack defenseman Joonas Lehtivuori to SM-Liiga club KalPa Kuopio for the remainder of the season. As most of you know, KalPa's majority owner is former Flyers forward Sami Kapanen and its minority owners include Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell.
After a promising rookie season with the Phantoms last year, Lehtivuori has taken a step backwards this season. He has often been a healthy scratch of late, so a change of scenery for awhile may do him some good. He is still under contract for next season, and is slated to return for training camp.
As an undersized defenseman, Lehtivuori has to rely on his puck-moving ability and positional savvy to be effective. Things haven't clicked for him this season (as is the case for just about everyone associated with the Adirondack club) and his confidence was down.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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