An opportunity to get two more points in the standing slipped away as the Flyers struggled in a poor effort in a 5-0 to the New Jersey Devils, the last place team in the Metropolitan Division. With a missed opportunity behind them, the Flyers go back to playing a demanding schedule against the top teams in the league.

It all starts on Saturday night when the Flyers face the top team in the Metro, the Washington Capitals. The Flyers have played two very competitive games against the Capitals this season, but also face a critical situation where they need to continue gaining points to keep pace in the division and playoff race.

Game time is 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia FlyersGPGAPWashington CapitalsGPGAP
Sean Couturier54133346John Carlson54145165
Travis Konecny51172744Alex Ovechkin53401757
Jake Voracek54112940Jakub Vrana54232245
Claude Giroux54132235Evgeny Kuznetsov51182745
Kevin Hayes 54171532Nicklas Backstrom46103141
Player to Watch
28 Claude Giroux8 Alex Ovechkin
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 1 A, 1 P, -2Last 5 Games: 9 G, 1 A, 10 P, +5
There was really no Flyer that had a good game on Thursday, but Claude Giroux's line was particularly poor. Giroux was on the ice for three goals against in the loss to the Devils, including the deciding goal just 13 seconds into the game. Giroux's offensive decline has as much to do with a changing role as it does performance, but the Flyers could use a big effort from the captain, who has gone 13 games without a goal and has just five assists in that time.
History is on the line on Saturday night for Alex Ovechkin. After posting a hat trick in his last game, Ovechkin sits just two goals away from 700 for his career. He sits at an even 40 goals on the season after scoring 14 goals in the last seven games.
Projected Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott70 Braden Holtby
27 GP, 13-6-4, 2.89 GAA, .900 SV%36 GP, 20-10-4, 3.08 GAA, .897 SV%

Off a shutout win on Monday that moved him to 4-0-1 in his last five starts, Brian Elliott turned in a poor performance, allowing four goals on 17 shots to the Devils before being pulled. Carter Hart is still not quite ready to return, so Elliott remains the go-to guy in goal for at least one more game.

Braden Holtby is coming off a strong start, making 29 saves on 31 shots in a win against the Kings. Holtby has faced the Flyers twice this season, getting a shootout win on Nov. 13 and taking the loss on Jan. 8.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Joel Farabee (illness, day-to-day), Carter Hart (lower right abdominal, day-to-day), Nolan Patrick (migrane disorder, out indefinitely), Oskar Lindblom (Ewing's sarcoma, out for season)

Scratches: Shayne Gostisbehere

Left WingCenterRight Wing
28 Claude Giroux14 Sean Couturier93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton13 Kevin Hayes11 Travis Konecny
25 James van Riemsdyk48 Morgan Frost18 Tyler Pitlick
12 Michael Raffl82 Connor Bunnaman62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg61 Justin Braun
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott34 Alex Lyon

Lineup Notes

Shayne Gostisbehere comes back out of the lineup and Robert Hagg returns. The Flyers also called up Morgan Frost on Friday to fill in as third-line center, moving Claude Giroux back to the wing and shuffling the lines.

Capitals Projected Lineup

Scratches: Travis Boyd

Left WingCenterRight Wing
8 Alex Ovechkin19 Nicklas Backstrom77 T.J. Oshie
13 Jakub Vrana92 Evgeny Kuznetsov43 Tom Wilson
62 Carl Hagelin20 Lars Eller14 Richard Panik
28 Brendan Leipsic26 Nic Dowd21 Garnet Hathaway
Defense
6 Michal Kempny74 John Carlson
9 Dmitry Orlov3 Nick Jensen
34 Jonas Siegenthaler33 Radko Gudas
Goalie
70 Braden Holtby30 Ilya Samsonov

Game Notes

  • Power Play: Flyers (T-18th), Capitals (12th)
  • Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-13th), Capitals (2nd)
  • Recent History vs. Capitals
    • Nov. 13, 2019 - Capitals 2, Flyers 1 (F/SO) (at PHI)
    • Jan. 8, 2020 - Flyers 3, Capitals 2 (at PHI)
  • Flyers Leaders vs. Capitals
    • Claude Giroux - 43 GP, 21 G, 20 A, 41 P
    • Jake Voracek - 37 GP, 15 G, 16 A, 31 P
    • Sean Couturier - 31 GP, 6 G, 14 A, 20 P
    • Brian Elliott - 17 GP, 8-7-0, 3.24 GAA, .891 SV%
  • Milestone Watch
    • Claude Giroux needs three points to reach 800 for his career.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic/97.3 ESPN

Kevin Durso is Flyers insider for 97.3 ESPN and Flyers editor for SportsTalkPhilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.

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