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POSTPONED -- Flyers Gameday: 2/9/21 @ WSH

February 9, 2021, 10:46 AM ET [180 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
POSTPONEMENT NOTICE (11:30 AM)

Although the National Hockey League has not officially announced anything as of yet, multiple sources confirm that tonight's game in Washington has been postponed. The blog will be updated with new developments when available from the NHL.

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GAME 14: FLYERS @ CAPITALS

Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (8-3-2) complete a back-to-back set against Peter Laviolette's Washington Capitals (6-3-1) at the Capital One Center in DC on Tuesday. Game time is 6:00 p.m. ET. It will be televised on NBCSP.

This is the second of eight meetings between the East Division teams this season. Thereafter, the next four games will be at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia: March 11, March 13, April 17 and April 27. The season series (and the regular season itself) concludes on May 7 and 8 back in DC.

On Sunday, the Flyers captured a wild 7-4 victory over the Capitals. Scott Laughton notched a hat trick (2nd, 3rd and 4th goals of the season), while Sean Couturier scored even strength and empty-net goals in the third (1st and 2nd) and assisted on Philadephia's third goal. Robert Hägg (1st) and the red-hot James van Riemsdyk (7th of the season, 100th over his two stints with the team) scored second period goals for the Flyers. Joel Farabee collected three assists.

For the Capitals, the top line scored all four goals. Veteran superstar Alex Ovechkin had power play and even strength goals (4th and 5th). Tom Wilson (5th) and Nicklas Bäckström (6th) each scored once and assisted once.

Carter Hart made 33 saves on 37 shots for the Flyers to earn the win. Vitek Vanecek lasted 36;36 for Washington, yielding four goals on 14 shots before giving way to veteran Craig Anderson. In relief, Anderson stopped six of eight shots and was charged with the loss.

Flyers Outlook

Brian Elliott will start in goal for the Flyers in Tuesday's game. Vigneault will speak to the media at 3:45 p.m. today.

The trio of Laughton, van Riemsdyk and Farabee have been the Flyers best line in recent weeks. JVR brings a seven-game point streak (4g, 9a, 13pts) into this game, while Farabee has four goals and seven points in his last four games and Laughton is coming off his first NHL hat trick.

On the flip side, 2019-20 NHL All-Star Travis Konecny is trying to fight his way out of an offensive funk: pointless with three shots on goal in his last five games, one point (0g, 1a)and five shots on goal in his last seven. Still working to get back to his pre-Ewing Sarcoma level of forechecking effectiveness and offensive impact, Oskar Lindblom is pointless in six games and has one point (0g, 1a) in the last nine matches. Nolan Patrick is likewise pointless in six games with one point (1g, 0a) over the last nine.

Tuesday's game will be a milestone for Flyers captain Claude Giroux. He will play in his 903rd game as a Flyer, tying Hockey Hall of Famer Bill Barber for second in regular season games played in franchise history. As with Giroux, Barber spent his entire NHL playing career in Philadelphia.

With Travis Sanheim placed on the NHL's COVID-19 protocol list on Sunday, Phil Myers returned after a one-game absence (upper-body injury) and was paired for the first time with Ivan Provorov. Sanheim remains unavailable for the time being.

Capitals Outlook

The Capitals have dropped three straight games in regulation coming into this one. On Sunday, they got out to leads of 2-0 (first period) and 3-2 (second period) before the Flyers caught up and pulled away with three unanswered goals in the final period. Washington's top line of Ovechkin, Bäckström and Wilson did all the damage.

Second-line center Evgeny Kuznetsov completed the COVID-19 protocol on Monday, as did goaltender Ilya Samsonov. Both are available for Tuesday's game but Samsonov is unlikely to play without another full practice or two. Justin Schultz (facial injury) returned to practice on Monday, and is day-to-day.

T.J. Oshie (upper body) did not practice again on Monday and his availability for this game is doubtful. Jakub Vrana remains on the COVID protocol list.

Projected lineups (Will be updated)

FLYERS

28 Claude Giroux - 13 Kevin Hayes - 11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk - 21 Scott Laughton - 86 Joel Farabee
12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek or 62 Nic Aube-Kubel
23 Oskar Lindblom - 19 Nolan Patrick - Voracek or NAK

9 Ivan Provorov - 5 Phil Myers
53 Shayne Gostisbehere - 61 Justin Braun
8 Robert Hägg - 56 Erik Gustafsson

37 Brian Elliott
[79 Carter Hart]

PP1: Giroux, Couturier, Voracek, JVR, Gustafsson
PP2: Patrick, Hayes, Konecny, Provorov, Gostisbehere

Scratches: 3 Mark Friedman (healthy), 82 Connor Bunnaman (healthy), 6 Travis Sanheim (COVID-19 protocol), 48 Morgan Frost (IR, dislocated shoulder).

CAPITALS

8 Alex Ovechkin - 19 Nicklas Backstrom - 43 Tom Wilson
14 Richard Panik - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 10 Daniel Sprong
73 Conor Sheary - 20 Lars Eller - 28 Daniel Carr
62 Carl Hagelin - 26 Nic Dowd - 21 Garnet Hathaway

33 Zdeno Chara - 74 John Carlson
4 Brenden Dillon - 2 Justin Schultz
9 Dmitry Orlov - 3 Nick Jensen​

41 Vitek Vanecek
[30 Ilya Samsonov or 31 Craig Anderson]

PP1: Ovechkin, Wilson, Bäckström, Eller, Carlson
PP2: Panik, Kuznetsov, Sprong, Schultz, Orlov

Scratches: 15 Philippe Maillet (healthy), 34 Jonas Siegenthaler (healthy), 57 Trevor van Riemsdyk (healthy), 77 TJ Oshie (upper body), 13 Jakub Vrana (Covid protocol).
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