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Flyers Gameday: 3/4/12 @ Capitals

March 4, 2012, 10:39 AM ET [555 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
PREVIEW 10 AM EST

Looking for their first back-to-back victories since January, the Flyers (35-21-7) head to the District of Columbia tonight to take on the enigmatic Washington Capitals ( 32-27-5). The game starts at 7 p.m. EST and will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network.

This is the third of four meetings between the teams this season, and the second and final one in Washington. It seems like ages ago when the Capitals ran their season record to 7-0-0 by coming to Philadelphia on Oct. 20 and skating off with a 5-2 win. The Flyers got off to a good start that night but collapsed in the final minute of the first period and never really got back on track again.

The bottom had dropped out for the Capitals -- who fired coach Bruce Boudreau right before Thanksgiving -- by the time the clubs reconvened in Washington on Dec. 13. In the midst of a seven-game winning streak, the Flyers steamrolled a lost and confused Capitals team, 5-1.

It has been a bumpy road for both clubs since then. The Flyers have posted a 16-14-4 record since that game on Dec. 14. The Caps are 17-14-4 in that span. Philly enters this game coming off a 6-3 win over the Islanders on Thursday night, while Washington got whitewashed, 5-0, by the Devils on Friday.

Despite the inconsistency both teams have displayed in recent months, the Fyers remain one of the NHL's better road teams (20-11-2) while the Capitals have the second-best home record (21-9-2) in the Eastern Conference. However, the Flyers are just 5-5-0 in their last 10 games overall, while the Capitals are 4-6-0.

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the Flyers' problems with slow starts. They enter this game having given up the game's first goal in nine straight matches and in 12 of the last 13, and has only established a lead within the first 10 minutes of a game once in in their last 36 games.

Philly's penalty kill has been erratic of late. So has the Caps' powerplay. In their last 10 games, Washington has connected on just 2 of 34 power plays (5.9 percent efficiency), while giving up four shorthanded goals. Over their last 21 games, Washington has only scored 7 special teams goals, while yielding 21 to the opposition.

Brooks Laich brings a five-game point streak into tonight's game (3G, 3A). Meanwhile, Alex Ovechkin has two goals in as many games against the Flyers this season, and a whopping 22 goals and 37 points in 24 career matches versus Philly.

It appears as if the Flyers are going to be short at least one of their regular starting defensemen tonight. Kimmo Timonen and Braydon Coburn both took maintenance days yesterday, and Andrej Meszaros left practice early. The club has recalled Erik Gustafsson from the Phantoms, and also has seventh defenseman Andreas Lilja available.

Washington is still without Nicklas Backstrom (suspected concussion) and Tom Poti (LTIR, groin). Tomas Vokoun (lower body) is day to day, and Michal Neuvirth appears to be the likely starter tonight for the caps. In addition, veteran defenseman Roman Hamrlik has been feuding with head coach Dale Hunter, and could be a healthy scratch along with 39-year-old ex-Flyer Mike Knuble.

I will try to post lineups later today.

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I have written a series of articles for the Flyers' official website to commemorate the jersey retirement ceremony in honor of Mark Howe before Tuesday's game against the Red Wings. On that day, I will devote a section of my gameday blog to talking about what Howe's Flyers career meant to me. He was -- and remains -- my all-time favorite player.

Today's article talks about how jersey retirement in the Flyers organization is the franchise's greatest of honors, even above induction into the team's Hall of Fame.

It is fitting that the best defenseman in team history will be honored alongside its greatest goaltender (Bernie Parent), center (Bobby Clarke), winger (Bill Barber), and its enduring symbol (the late Barry Ashbee) of the everyman player who made good through sheer will and determination.

Before Howe came to the Flyers, the #2 was most associated with hard-nosed former captain Ed van Impe and hard-shooting defenseman Bob "the Count" Dailey. While both were fine players in their own right, Howe far and away exceeded the careers of both over the course of his decade in orange and black.

In the 20 years since Howe's departure from the team, there have been nine Flyers defenseman who wore #2. They range from the likes of Derian Hatcher, Eric Weinrich and Dmitri Yushkevich to Vladimir Malakhov, Adam Burt, Kerry Huffman, Lukas Krajicek, Frantisek Kucera and Brad Tiley. Krajicek was the final one to wear it before its retirement in Howe's honor.

The next two installments of the Howe series are a year-by-year capsule review of his 10 seasons in Philadelphia, entitled "A Decade of Greatness: A Look Inside Howe's Flyers Career." The final part is a collection of recent and archival tributes to #2 from many of his former Flyers teammates.

If there is not room on the Flyers' official site to run the follow-up segments, I will post them here in their entirety on Tuesday.

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Tomorrow night at 8 p.m., the Flyersfaithful.com web site will be holding a fundraising event for the Ed Snider Youth Hockey Foundation at Fado in Center City Philadelphia. Please come out show your support.

Use coupon code "FlyersBuzz" on HockeyTickets.ca between now and the end of the regular season to receive a 10% discount on all ticket orders over $150 and also have a chance to win two free lower-level seats to a Flyers regular season game of your choice at the Wells Fargo Center.

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