GAME 22: FLYERS vs. CAPITALS
Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (12-6-3) return home on Sunday to take on Peter Laviolette's Washington Capitals (13-6-4) in the first game since the COVID-19 pandemic that fans will be admitted to the Wells Fargo Center. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
Three of the Flyers' next four games are against the Capitals. Back on Feb. 7, the Flyers earned a 7-4 road win in DC.
Flyers Outlook
On Saturday afternoon, the Flyers suffered a 4-3 road loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Continued penalty killing struggles, a very soft goal allowed late in the second period while leading 3-2 and a bad change proved to be the Flyers' undoing. The Flyers went 1-2-0 in the three-game set in Pittsburgh.
Carter Hart will get the start in goal on Sunday. Joel Farabee returned after two days in COVID-19 protocol to play in Saturday's game. The status of Michael Raffl (hand injury) will be updated on Sunday. Phil Myers (upper body) remains questionable to doubtful.
In Saturday's game, in the absence of Myers, Nate Prosser made his second start of the season. Erik Gustafsson remained a healthy scratch.
Capitals Outlook
The Caps conclude a nine-day road trip with Sunday's game in Philadelphia. On Friday, the Capitals suffered a 5-1 blowout loss at the hands of the Boston Bruins. A three-goal blitz by the Bruins turned a manageable 1-0 deficit into a 4-0 crater. Center Nicklas Bà¤ckström recorded his 700th career assist on the lone Washington goal, setting up Jakub Vrana in the third period.
The NHL's Department of Player Safety imposed a seven-game suspension on Capitals winger Tom Wilson for delivering a head-high check on 6-foot-5 Boston defenseman Brandon Carlo. Carlo was hospitalized.
Projected lineups
FLYERS
25 James van Riemsdyk - 14 Sean Couturier - 86 Joel Farabee 21 Scott Laughton - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny 23 Oskar Lindblom - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jake Voracek 82 Connor Bunnaman - 19 Nolan Patrick - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov - 61 Justin Braun 6 Travis Sanheim - 39 Nate Prosser 8 Robert Hà¤gg - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
79 Carter Hart [37 Brian Elliott]
PP1: Giroux, Couturier, JVR, Farabee, Gostisbehere. PP2: Voracek, Hayes, Patrick, Konecny, Provorov.
Scratches: 5 Phil Myers (apparent upper-body injury, doubtful), 56 Erik Gustafsson (healthy), 12 Michael Raffl (hand).
Injured reserve: 48 Morgan Frost (shoulder surgery).
COVID-19 protocol: None.
CAPITALS
8 Alex Ovechkin - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 73 Conor Sheary 13 Jakub Vrana - 19 Nicklas Backstrom - 77 T.J. Oshie 14 Richard Panik - 20 Lars Eller - 10 Daniel Sprong 62 Carl Hagelin - 26 Nic Dowd - 21 Garnet Hathaway…‹
4 Brenden Dillon - 74 John Carlson 9 Dmitry Orlov - 2 Justin Schultz 33 Zdeno Chara - 3 Nick Jensen…‹
30 Ilya Samsonov 41 Vitek Vanecek …‹
PP1: Ovechkin, Bà¤ckström, Oshie, Vrana, Carlson PP2: Ovechkin, Sheary, Kuznetsov, Sprong, Schultz
Scratches: 34 Jonas Siegenthaler (healthy), 57 Trevor van Riemsdyk
IR: 6 Michel Kempny (Achilles tendon repair surgery), 35 Henrik Lundbqivst open heart surgery), 47 Beck Malenstyn (Achilles tendon repair surgery).
NHL suspension: 43 Tom Wilson (seven games, eligible to return March 20).