Game 49 Preview: Flyers vs. Capitals
Interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (15-24-9) begin an eight-game homestand on Thursday with a game against Peter Laviolette's Washington Capitals (27-15-9). Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET (NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic).
This is the second of four meetings between the teams this season and the first of two in Philadelphia. The teams will rematch at the Wells Fargo Center on the afternoon of Feb. 26 before the season series concludes at Capital One Arena on April 12.
Back on Nov. 6, the Flyers improved their early season record to 6-2-2 when they skated to a 2-1 road win over the Capitals. The Capitals dropped to 5-2-4 with the loss. Since that time, the Flyers have gone 9-22-7 including regulation, overtime or shootout defeats in 16 of the last 18 games. The Capitals have posted a 22-13-5 record since they last played the Flyers.
On Tuesday, the Flyers took a 4-2 lead into the third period against the host Pittsburgh Penguins but went down to a 5-4 overtime loss. Claude Giroux (16th goal of the season), Scott Laughton (10th), Nick Seeler (1st) and Justin Braun (4th) tallied goals for the Flyers.
The Capitals enter this game coming off a 4-1 road win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Alex Ovechkin notched power play and even strength goals (30th and 31st of the season) to seal the win after the Capitals took a 2-1 lead early in the third period. Joe Snively (3rd) and Nick Jensen (4th) scored Washington's first and second goals respectively. Ilya Samsonov stopped 33 of 34 shots to earn the win.
For an in-depth look at tonight's matchups and recent team trends, see Five Things on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com
PROJECTED LINEUPS (subject to change)
Flyers
23 Oskar Lindblom - 28 Claude Giroux - 89 Cam Atkinson 25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 11 Travis Konecny 71 Max Willman - 48 Morgan Frost - 20 Gerry Mayhew 76 Isaac Ratcliffe - 82 Connor Bunnaman - 17 Zack MacEwen
9 Ivan Provorov - 61 Justin Braun 6 Travis Sanheim - 24 Nick Seeler 3 Keith Yandle - 8 Kevin Connauton
35 Martin Jones [79 Carter Hart]
Capitals
8 Alex Ovechkin - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 43 Tom Wilson 91 Joe Snively - 19 Nicklas Bà¤ckström - 73 Conor Sheary 24 Connor McMichael - 20 Lars Eller - 10 Daniel Sprong 62 Carl Hagelin - 26 Nic Dowd - 21 Garnet Hathaway
42 Martin Fehervary - 74 John Carlson 9 Dmitry Orlov - 3 Nick Jensen 57 Trevor van Riemsdyk - 2 Justin Schultz
41 Vitek Vanecek 30 Ilya Samsonov