PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. CAPITALS
In their final home match and penultimate game before a five-night schedule break over the holidays, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (19-11-4) host Barry Trotz's Washington Capitals (19-8-3) on Wednesday.Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 8:00 p.m. ET. The game will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network.
This game marks the first time the teams have faced off since the Capitals eked out a 1-0 road victory over the Flyers in the clinching sixth game of the 2015 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. The teams will meet four times during the 2016-17 regular season. After this game, the clubs will rematch at the Verizon Center in Washington on Jan. 15, in Philadelphia on Feb. 22 and back in DC again on March 4.
Flyers Outlook
Wednesday's game is the front end of back-to-back games for the Flyers and the middle segment of a three-in-four. After this game, the Flyers head to Newark to play the New Jersey Devils.
During the Flyers' recent 10-game winning streak, the team averaged 3.50 goals per game while yielding just 2.20 goals per game. However, the Flyers have scored just one goal in three of their last four games and enter this match coming off a 3-1 road loss in Dallas on Saturday and a 2-1 home shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Monday.
Flyers goaltender Steve Mason played a strong game in Nashville, stopping 30 of 31 shots in regulation and overtime before stopping one of two shootout attempts. Andrew MacDonald scored Philly's lone goal of the game. Nick Cousins, Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek (hit the outside of the net from a sharp angle) were unable to convert their shootout attempts. The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play, including a failed 5-on-3 in the second period that swung some of the momentum in the game.
Voracek leads the Flyers with 34 points (11 goals, 23 assists) in 34 games. Giroux is second on the team with 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists), while Wayne Simmonds paces the club with 16 goals and eight power play tallies among his 29 points.
Schenn is fourth on the Flyers' scoring leaderboard with 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in 31 games. He's followed by rookie forward Travis Konecny (four goals, 12 assists), Shayne Gostisbehere (four goals, 12 assists) and injured veteran offensive defenseman Mark Streit (five goals, 11 assists).
Rookie defenseman Provorov has 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) while dressing in all 34 games. The 19-year-old is already now routinely matched up against other teams' top lines and is averaging a team-high 20:56 of ice time and 27.9 shifts per game.
On the injury front, Matt Read (midsection), Sean Couturier (knee) and Michal Neuvirth (sprained left knee) remain on injured reserve. Veteran Mark Streit is out with a suspected sprained left shoulder (officially, an upper-body injury). None are expected to return before the Christmas break. According to Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, there is chance several of the players could play before the end of December. Neuvirth is likely out until the new year.
Capitals Outlook
The Caps are one point behind the Flyers for the higher wildcard seed in the Eastern Conference playoff race but hold four games in hand. The Caps boast an 8-3-3 overall road record this season and have claimed points in seven of their last 10 games (6-3-1).
Washington enters this game coming off a 2-1 regulation home loss to the Montreal Canadiens last Friday before a three-night break in the schedule. Nicklas Bà¤ckström's second period power play goal stood as the Caps' lone tally of the game, briefly tying the score at 1-1. The Habs limited the Caps to a modest 21 shots on goal, with Carey Price turning back 20. In a losing cause, Braden Holtby stopped 23 of 25 shots.
Bà¤ckström leads the Capitals with 27 points (nine goals, 18 assists) in 30 games, while Alexander Ovechkin paces the team with 14 goals (six on the power play) among his 23 points. Marcus Johansson is third with 12 goals and 22 points, while Evgeny Kuznetsov has posted 17 points (three goals, 14 assists) and T.J. Oshie has 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in just 23 games. John Carlson, who leads all Caps defensemen with an average 23:31 of ice time per game, has posted 14 points (one goal, 13 assists) to date.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 3.06 (5th), Capitals 2.67 (14th) Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.91 (23rd), Capitals 2.13 (3rd) Power play efficiency: Flyers 22.8% (5th), Capitals 19.6% (13th) Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 82.8% (10th), Capitals 84.0 (7th) Shots on goal per game: Flyers 31.5 (6th), Capitals 30.1 (T-12th) Shots against per game: Flyers 28.8 (7th), Capitals 28.1 (6th) Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.2% (12th), Capitals 50.6% (11th)
Projected Lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
FLYERS
12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek 11 Travis Konecny - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds 76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 P-E Bellemare - 13 Roman Lyubimov 58 Taylor Leier - 25 Nick Cousins - 22 Dale Weise
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald 15 Michael Del Zotto- 3 Radko Gudas 53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 23 Brandon Manning
35 Steve Mason [41 Anthony Stolarz]
Scratches: Sean Couturier (lower body, suspected left MCL), Michal Neuvirth (IR, knee), Matt Read (IR, abdominal area), Mark Streit (shoulder), Boyd Gordon (healthy), Nick Schultz (healthy).
CAPITALS
8 Alexander Ovechkin - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 14 Justin Williams 90 Marcus Johansson - 19 Nicklas Bà¤ckström - 77 T.J. Oshie 65 Andre Burakovsky - 20 Lars Eller - 13 Jakub Vrana 26 Daniel Winnick - 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: Taylor Chorney (healthy), Brett Connolly (healthy), Zach Sanford (healthy).