GAME 44: FLYERS vs. CAPITALS
Returning home from a poor road trip that saw them go 1-4-1, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (22-15-6 overall, 13-2-5 home) host Todd Reirden's President's Trophy race leading Washington Capitals (30-9-5, 17-5-1 away) on Wednesday night. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:30 p.m. ET.
The game will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Network. The radio broadcast will be on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the second of four meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division clubs, and the second and final game in Philadelphia. The teams will rematch in DC on Feb. 4 and March. 8.
On Nov. 13, the Flyers rode stellar goaltending by Carter to a gain a point against the Capitals but ultimately lost via shootout, 2-1. At the time, the Flyers were on a seven-game run of being undefeated in regulation (5-0-2).
Hart made 32 saves on 33 shots in regulation and two more in OT; a slew of which were very tough stops. This was the first time this season to date that the Capitals were held to fewer than two goals in a game, and the first time since the third game of the season that the Caps scored fewer than three times.
Braden Holtby was also outstanding in net for Washington (27 saves on 28 shots in regulation, 3 more in OT, 2-for-3 in the shootout), but Hart's heroics were the big story. That said, after being outshot 16-5 in the first period, the Flyers outshot the Capitals 26-20 over the rest of the game.
Claude Giroux (power play, 5th) knotted the game in the third period, after a Brendan Leipsic goal (2nd) stood as the game's only tally through two periods.
The Flyers went 1-for-4 on the power play and 3-for-3 on the penalty kill in the first meeting with the Capitals.
FLYERS OUTLOOK
Much has been made about the extreme contrast between not only the Flyers' home and road records, but also the goals for, goals against, and special teams numbers underlying it. Ditto Hart's individual home vs. road splits.
The truth of the matter is that venue alone doesn't account for the differentials. Simply switching venues and playing at home isn't a cure-all. Especially with a slew of tough opponents lined up in a row to severely test the Flyers, the team is going to have to clean up a slew of trouble spots that arose during their last two road trips (0-3-0 and 1-4-1, sandwiched between a four-game winning streak heading into the Christmas break). Those areas include:
* Handling adversity: Avoiding giving up multiple close-spaced goals after yielding one. * Getting saves when needed: In every game of the road trip, there were or or two goals against that were potentially or clearly stoppable but ended up in the net. * Taking much better care of the puck than they did on this last road trip in particular. * Paying attention to off-puck detail and coverages: defensemen and forwards alike. * Getting contributions from various different lines. * Fixing the special teams issues that arose, especially on the penalty killing side.
Tuesday's 5-4 overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh was a baby step in the right direction. The Flyers showed moxie and resiliency in that game, and played with improved energy after back-to-back nights off in the schedule and not having a morning skate before playing the Hurricanes.
Travis Konecny (13th) and Michael Raffl (4th) built a 2-0 lead early for the Flyers. Nicolas Aube-Kubel (2nd) and Travis Sanheim (5th) scored as the Flyers came back from a 4-2 deficit to force overtime. Jakub Voracek, who had a would-be tying goal disallowed due to a hasty whistle early in the third period
There were still a lot of trouble spots in the Carolina game. There were too many odd-man rushes allowed early. Too much defensive zone puck watching and missed coverages. An uneven goaltending performance. A blown early 2-0 lead that turned into a 4-2 deficit. However, given just how far awry things had gone for the Flyers on the western portion of the trip, it was unrealistic to expect an instant snap-back to the team's top form.
The Flyers must bring their A game to beat the Caps. Anything less will probably mean a loss, even though Washington has less motivation coming into this game than Philly does.
CAPITALS OUTLOOK
Wednesday's game is not one where there's a built-in fatigue factor of a rested team playing against a potentially tired opponent. Both the Flyers and Capitals played the previous night, with the Capitals recovering from a 1-0 deficit at the first intermission to catch and pull away from the visiting Ottawa Senators, 6-1. The Capitals have won 14 of their last 19 games.
On Tuesday, Alex Ovechkin scored his 25th and 26th goals of the season, and the 683rd and 684th of his career, tying Hockey Hall of Famer Teemu Selà¤nne for 11th on the all-time NHL goals list. T.J. Oshie also scored twice (17th and 18th), while Radko Gudas scored his second goal as a Capital and Lars Eller (11th) turned the game into a rout early in the third period.
Ilya Samsonov stopped 26 of 27 shots to earn the win. Holtby will face the Flyers.
PROJECTED STARTING LINEUPS (subject to change)
FLYERS
28 Claude Giroux - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny 25 James van Riemsdyk - 13 Kevin Hayes - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel 18 Tyler Pitlick - 12 Michael Raffl - 93 Jakub Voracek 21 Scott Laughton - 24 Mikhail Vorobyev - 49 Joel Farabee
9 Ivan Provorov - 15 Matt Niskanen 6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers 8 Robert Hà¤gg - 57 Mark Friedman
79 Carter Hart [37 Brian Elliott]
Power Play 1: Giroux, Couturier, JVR, Konecny, Provorov. Power Play 2: Aube-Kubel, Hayes, Voracek, Gostisbehere, Niskanen.
Scratches: 44 Chris Stewart (healthy), 62 Justin Braun (groin), 53 Shayne Gostisbehere (knee). LTIR: 55 Sam Morin (torn ACL, out for season), 23 Oskar Lindblom (Ewing sarcoma, out for season), 19 Nolan Patrick (migraines).
CAPITALS
8 Alex Ovechkin - 19 Nicklas Backström - 43 Tom Wilson 13 Jakub Vrana - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 77 T.J. Oshie 62 Carl Hagelin - 20 Lars Eller - 14 Richard Panik 28 Brendan Leipsic - 26 Nic Dowd - 21 Garnet Hathaway…‹
34 Jonas Siegenthaler - 74 John Carlson 9 Dmitry Orlov - 3 Nick Jensen 6 Michal Kempny - 33 Radko Gudas…‹
70 Braden Holtby [30 Ilya Samsonov] …‹ Power Play 1: Kuznetsov, Backström, Oshie, Ovechkin, Carlson Power Play 2: Vrana, Eller, Wilson, Ovechkin, Orlov …‹ Scratches: 29 Christian Djoos (upper body), 72 Travis Boyd (healthy). …‹