Preview: Flyers & Caps Reignite Their Rivalry Tonight

The last time these two teams faced-off against one another it was game six of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, where the Washington Capitals ended the Philadelphia Flyers’ season. The Flyers will look to strike revenge on the team that ended it all for them last year in a hard-fought first round series. This will be the first of four meetings between the rivals this season and the last home game for the Flyers before the holiday break.

As for the Capitals, they were a bit of a different team when they eliminated the Flyers last spring. They were the overwhelming favorite in the series as the Eastern Conference’s first seed. Right now, they find themselves one point behind the Flyers for the first wildcard spot, however, they do hold four games in hand.


Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers

Wells Fargo Center – 8:00 p.m. EST

Broadcast channels – NBCSN; 97.5 The Fanatic

2016-17 Season Series: First Matchup

Washington Capitals: 19-8-3 – 41 Points

Road Record: 8-3-3

Hot Players: Matt Niskanen, Justin Williams

Scratches: Taylor Chorney, Brett Connolly, Zachary Sanford

Injuries: None

Projected lines:

Forwards:

Alex Ovechkin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Justin Williams

Marcus Johansson — Nicklas Backstrom — T.J. Oshie

Jakub Vrana — Lars Eller — Andre Burakovsky

Daniel Winnik — Jay Beagle — Tom Wilson

Defense:

Karl Alzner — John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

Brooks Orpik — Nate Schmidt

Starting Goaltender:

Brayden Holtby

Philadelphia Flyers: 19-11-4 – 42 Points

Home Record: 11-5-3

Hot Players: Jake Voracek, Claude Giroux

Scratches: Boyd Gordon, Nick Schultz

Injuries: Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Matt Read (upper body), Sean Couturier (lower body), Mark Streit (shoulder)

Projected lines:

Forwards:

Michael Raffl — Claude Giroux — Jakub Voracek

Travis Konecny — Brayden Schenn — Wayne Simmonds

Chris VandeVelde — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Roman Lyubimov

Taylor Leier — Nick Cousins — Dale Weise

Defense:

Ivan Provorov — Andrew MacDonald

Brandon Manning — Shayne Gostisbehere

Michael Del Zotto — Radko Gudas

Starting Goaltender:

Steve Mason


Game Notes

[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]1)[/miptheme_dropcap] The Flyers will try to right the ship tonight after dropping their last two games after winning 10 straight. They lost the last two in games they should’ve won, and were winning during their streak. Tonight will be a measuring stick game to see just how far this team’s really come since sneaking into the playoffs last year and losing to the number one-seeded Capitals.

[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]2)[/miptheme_dropcap] The Capitals have been impressive going into the opposing teams’ barns this year. They sport an 8-3-3 record on the road and have been rolling of late going 6-3-1 in their last 10 games. Washington last played on Saturday night falling 2-1 at home to the Montreal Canadiens in regulation, so they will be looking to bounce back tonight against the Flyers.

[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]3)[/miptheme_dropcap] With the Metropolitan Division being so tight and competitive, this game tonight against the Capitals and tomorrow against the New Jersey Devils are so important in coming away with wins in regulation in order to begin separating themselves from other teams.

[miptheme_dropcap style=”normal” color=”#222222″ background=””]4)[/miptheme_dropcap] Steve Mason will be back between the pipes for the Flyers tonight, who played extremely well, once again, in the shootout loss to Nashville on Monday. He will look to keep his strong play going with Michal Neuvirth nearing a return from a knee injury that’s kept him out over the last month.