PREVIEW: FLYERS @ CAPITALS
In the first game of a four-game road trip, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (30-26-7) are in DC on Saturday night Thursday night to take on Barry Trotz's Washington Capitals (43-13-7). Game time at the Verizon Center is 7:30 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the teams and the second and final game in Washington. The Flyers captured a 3-2 shootout win at home on Dec. 21. The Capitals swamped the Flyers, 5-0, at the Verizon Center on Jan. 15 and 4-1 at the Wells Fargo Center on Feb. 22.
Flyers Outlook
Philly is 4-6-1 over its last 11 games but is coming off a 4-0 home win against the cellar-dwelling Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday and a 2-1 home shootout win in a thrilling game against the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
Making his Flyers' debut, Valtteri Filppula scored the game-tying goal in the third period of Thursday's game. Jordan Weal and Jakub Voracek converted their shootout attempts. Steve Mason turned in a second straight stellar game in goal, stopping 39 of 40 shots and then turning back two of three shootout attempts.
Entering play on Saturday, the Flyers are four points behind the New York Islanders for the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders earned one point from a 2-1 shootout loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night.
Brandon Manning has finished serving a two-game NHL suspension for a hit on Jake Guentzel away from the puck in the Stadium Series game in Pittsburgh.
On the injury front, Travis Konecny (lower body) is ahead of schedule in his recovery and may play in Washington. Michael Raffl left Tuesday's game with a lower-body injury and learned the next day that he will miss four to six weeks.
Capitals Outlook
Leading the NHL's President's Trophy race, the Capitals have a seven-point cushion on the Columbus Blue Jackets atop the Metropolitan Division. Washington is 7-2-1 over its last 10 games.
Jakub Vrana's power play goal in the third period proved to be the only marker in a 1-0 home win over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. Braden Holtby faced just 15 shots and earned the shutout win.
The already stacked Capitals blueline became even deeper and more formidable with the acquisition of Keven Shattenkirk. Nate Schmidt is now the team's seventh defenseman.
On the injury front, T.J. Oshie is questionable with an infection on his leg. Andre Burkovsky is on injured reserve with a hand injury.
Projected lineups (subject to change)
FLYERS
40 Jordan Weal - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds 10 Brayden Schenn - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 93 Jakub Voracek 25 Nick Cousins - 14 Sean Couturier - 24 Matt Read 76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-à‰douard Bellemare - 13 Roman Lyubimov
9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald 23 Brandon Manning - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere 15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas
35 Steve Mason [30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Travis Konecny (questionable, lower body), Dale Weise (healthy), Nick Schultz (healthy), Michael Raffl (IR, lower body).
Capitals
8 Alex Ovechkin - 19 Nicklas Bà¤ckström - 43 Tom Wilson 90 Marcus Johansson - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 14 Justin Williams 10 Brett Connolly - 20 Lars Eller - 13 Jakub Vrana 26 Daniel Winnik - 83 Jay Beagle - 28 Paul Carey
27 Karl Alzner - 74 John Carlson 9 Dmitri Orlov - 2 Matt Niskanen 44 Brooks Orpik - 22 Kevin Shattenkirk
70 Braden Holtby [31 Philipp Grubauer]
Scratches: Taylor Chorley (healthy), Nate Schmidt (healthy), Andre Burakovsky (IR, hand), T.J. Oshie (questionable, leg).