Flyers-Capitals: Game 44 Preview

A six-game road trip came to a sour end with a 5-4 overtime loss in Carolina on Tuesday night for the Flyers. A trip home should be just what the doctor ordered, given that the Flyers have a league-best 13-2-4 record on home ice this season, including four straight wins and seven in their last eight games.

That said, the Flyers schedule may just get tougher that on the road. The next four games are against top teams in the league. It starts with the team right at the top of the NHL standings, the Washington Capitals, who dominated their way to a 6-1 win over Ottawa on Tuesday night.

Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Washington Capitals	GP	G	A	P
Travis Konecny	40	13	24	37	John Carlson	44	13	41	54
Sean Couturier	43	12	23	35	Alex Ovechkin	44	26	16	42
Jake Voracek	43	8	26	34	Evgeny Kuznetsov	41	16	25	41
Claude Giroux	43	13	18	31	Jakub Vrana	44	18	17	35
Ivan Provorov	43	9	15	24	Nicklas Backstrom	36	8	25	33

Player to Watch
93 Jake Voracek	8 Alex Ovechkin
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 7 A, 7 P, +2	Last 5 Games: 3 G, 2 A, 5 P, -3

Jake Voracek was certainly a player that provided a good amount of energy in Tuesday's game and came close to ending the game with a shot that hit the crossbar in overtime. In the last five games, Voracek has done his share of setting up teammates with seven assists, but he has gone seven straight games with out a goal.

Alex Ovechkin snapped a three-game goalless drought in a big way with a pair of goals in Tuesday's win. Prior to Tuesday's game, Ovechkin had just four goals in the last 15 games, certainly uncharacteristic of him. The two-goal game may have helped him catch fire again and he'll certainly be one to watch.

Projected Goalie Matchup
79 Carter Hart	70 Braden Holtby
29 GP, 13-10-3, 2.61 GAA, .905 SV%	30 GP, 18-7-4, 2.99 GAA, .902 SV%

The road struggles continued for Carter Hart, who lost three games and entered another in relief. Hart's overall numbers are still solid, mainly because he has been on an elite level at home. After getting the night off in Carolina, Hart will be in goal for the Flyers on Wednesday against Washington.

Braden Holtby's last game against San Jose was a win where he allowed three goals on 28 shots. It snapped a three-game losing streak for Holyby, who struggled in his own right out of the holiday break. Holtby made 30 saves in a shootout win against the Flyers on Nov. 13.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Shayne Gostisbehere (knee, day-to-day), Justin Braun (groin, out until All-Star break), Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Scratches: Chris Stewart (healthy)

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk	13 Kevin Hayes	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
18 Tyler Pitlick	12 Michael Raffl	93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton	24 Mikhail Vorobyev	49 Joel Farabee
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg	59 Mark Friedman
Goalie
79 Carter Hart	37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Shayne Gostisbehere is scratched with a knee injury suffered late in Tuesday's game. Mark Friedman was called up and will make his season debut on Wednesday.

Capitals Projected Lineup

Injuries: Christian Djoos

Scratches: Travis Boyd

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
8 Alex Ovechkin	19 Nicklas Backstrom	43 Tom Wilson
13 Jakub Vrana	92 Evgeny Kuznetsov	77 T.J. Oshie
62 Carl Hagelin	20 Lars Eller	14 Richard Panik
28 Brendan Leipsic	26 Nic Dowd	21 Garnet Hathaway
Defense
6 Michal Kempny	74 John Carlson
9 Dmitry Orlov	3 Nick Jensen
34 Jonas Siegenthaler	33 Radko Gudas
Goalie
70 Braden Holtby	30 Ilya Samsonov

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (16th), Capitals (10th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (13th), Capitals (3th)
Recent History vs. Capitals
- Jan. 8, 2019 - Capitals 5, Flyers 3 (at WSH)
- March 6, 2019 - Capitals 5, Flyers 3 (at PHI)
- March 14, 2019 - Capitals 5, Flyers 2 (at PHI)
- March 24, 2019 - Capitals 3, Flyers 1 (at WSH)
- Nov. 13, 2019 - Capitals 2, Flyers 1 (F/SO) (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Capitals
- Claude Giroux - 42 GP, 21 G, 20 A, 41 P
- Jake Voracek - 36 GP, 15 G, 16 A, 31 P
- Sean Couturier - 30 GP, 6 G, 13 A, 19 P
- James van Riemsdyk - 31 GP, 8 G, 11 A, 19 P
- Carter Hart - 1 GP, 0-1-1, 2.43 GAA, .925 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Shayne Gostisbehere needs one point to reach 200 for his career.