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Flyers Gameday: 1/14/17 @ WSH, Alumni Game Wrapup

January 15, 2017, 12:38 AM ET [580 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
MINI-PREVIEW: FLYERS @ CAPITALS

Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (22-17-6) are in DC on Sunday afternoon to take on Barry Trotz's Washington Capitals (28-9-5). The game will be nationally televised on NBC. Game time at the Verizon Center is 1:00 p.m.

This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season. After this game, the clubs will rematch in Philadelphia on Feb. 22 and back in DC again on March 4.

On Dec. 21 at the Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers prevailed via shootout, 3-2. Twice, the Flyers battled from one-goal deficits in regulation. Michael Raffl scored on a wraparound and, during late second period 4-on-4 play, Claude Giroux turned an Evgeny Kuznetsov bad-bounce turnover into Philly's second goal as he wristed a shot under the crossbar. In the first period, Andre Burakovsky scored high to the long-side from the bottom of the right circle. In the second, Lars Eller converted a rebound on a third-opportunity chance for Washington.

The Flyers also trailed 1-0 in the shootout in the third round. Jakub Voracek converted his chance against defending Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby. Steve Mason, who stopped 36 of 38 shots during regulation and overtime, then sent the shootout to a fourth round by denying Nicklas Bäckström.

After Wayne Simmonds scored against Holtby, Mason's blocker save on former Flyers forward Justin Williams sealed the skills competition point for the Flyers. Phily won its fourth shootout of the season.

Things were looking up for the Flyers at the time, as the win improved their overall season record to 20-11-4. Not much has gone right since then for Philly. In the meantime, the Capitals have taken over from the Columbus Blue Jackets as the hottest team in the NHL.

Flyers Outlook

In the 13 matches following their 10-game winning streak, the Flyers have posted a 3-7-3 record (2-7-3 since the shootout win over the Caps). For the season, the Flyers are 14-6-3 on home ice but just 8-11-3 on the road. The club is winless (0-6-2) in its last eight road games.

On Saturday, the Flyers repeated all of the bad elements of Thursday's eventual shootout win over Vancouver -- taking far too many penalties and turning over the puck repeatedly -- with fewer of the positive signs. It was not that the Bruins, apart from Brad Marchand (two goals, three assists), played a spotless game. The Flyers were just the worse team and the final 6-3 margin of defeat was deserved.

In addition to Marchand's two goals, the Bruins got tallies from David Krejci, Torey Krug, Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara. Philly got tallies from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare at even strength and from Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds on the power play.

Tuukka Rask stopped 21 of 24 shots to earn the win. Michal Neuvirth stopped 33 of 38 in a losing cause. Steve Mason is expected to start Sunday's game in Washington.

Activated from long-term injured reserve, Mark Streit returned to the Flyers' lineup and was paired with Radko Gudas (a semi-healthy scratch on Thursday). With those two returning, struggling second-year NHLer Shayne Gostisbehere, for the second time this season, was a healthy scratch. Veteran defenseman Nick Schultz also sat.

Matt Read suffered a minor skate cut on Thursday, leaving and then returning to the game. He missed the game in Boston and is considered day-to-day. Roman Lyubimov was back in the lineup on Saturday.

Jakub Voracek leads the Flyers with 41 points (13 goals, 28 assists) in 45 games. Team captain Claude Giroux is second on the team with 38 points (10 goals, 28 assists), while All-Star Game selection Wayne Simmonds paces the club with 18 goals and has nine power play tallies among his 34 points.

Brayden Schenn is fourth on the Flyers' scoring leaderboard with 30 points (15 goals including a league-leading 11 power play tallies, 15 assists) in 41 games. He's followed by rookie Travis Konecny (seven goals, 14 assists). Rookie defenseman Ivan Provorov has 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) while dressing in every game. Gostisbehere has 19 points (four goals, 15 assists, minus-15) and Streit has 17 (five goals, 12 assists) in 32 games.

In goal, Mason has posted a 14-14-6 record, 2.87 GAA and .901 save percentage to date. Neuvirth has a 6-3-0 record in 12 appearances with a 3.38 GAA and .875 save percentage.

Capitals Outlook

The Caps bring an eight-game winning streak and points in nine of the last 10 games (8-1-1) into this tilt. The team is 17-5-1 on home ice to date.

On Friday, the Caps blew out out the visiting Chicago Blackhawks, 6-0. Braden Holtby recorded a 24-save shutout. Fourth-line center Jay Beagle notched a pair of goals, while Nicklas Bäckström, T.J. Oshie and even Tom Wilson notched a goal apiece.

Holtby is really on a roll of late. He has notched five shutouts in his past 14 games and has allowed a combined total of three goals over his last five starts. On Friday, veteran defenseman Karl Alzner played his 500 consecutive NHL game; the fifth-longest active streak in the league.


Projected Lineups (subject to change)

FLYERS (Saturday's starting lines, changes likely)

12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 11 Travis Konecny
25 Nick Cousins - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
22 Dale Weise - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 P-E Bellemare - 13 Roman Lyubimov

9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
32 Mark Streit - 3 Radko Gudas
15 Michael Del Zotto - 23 Brandon Manning

35 Steve Mason
[29 Michal Neuvirth]

Scratches: Nick Schultz (healthy), Shayne Gostisbehere (healthy), Matt Read (skate cut).

CAPITALS

8 Alexander Ovechkin - 19 Nicklas Bäckström - 77 T.J. Oshie
90 Marcus Johansson - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 14 Justin Williams
10 Brett Connolly - 20 Lars Eller - 65 Andre Burakovsky
26 Daniel Winnik - 83 Jay Beagle - 43 Tom Wilson

27 Karl Alzner - 74 John Carlson
9 Dmitri Orlov - 2 Matt Niskanen
44 Brooks Orpik - 88 Nate Schmidt

70 Braden Holtby
[31 Philipp Grubauer]

Scratches: Chandler Stephenson (healthy), Taylor Chorney (healthy).

********

50TH ANNIVERSARY ALUMNI GAME WRAPUP

The Philadelphia Flyers Alumni and Pittsburgh Penguins Alumni skated to a 3-3 tie in the 50th Anniversary Game at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night.

Dave Brown, Danny Briere and Eric Desjardins scored for the Flyers Alumni, who led by scores of 2-0 and 3-1 in the third period before Ryan Malone scored a pair of goals for the Pittsburgh side and Tyler Kennedy knotted the score with four minutes remaining in regulation.

For a full game recap and postgame reaction from the Flyers Alumni locker room, click here.
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