Flyers-Capitals: Game 55 Preview
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 Flyers | GP | G | A | P | Washington Capitals | GP | G | A | P |
Sean Couturier | 54 | 13 | 33 | 46 | John Carlson | 54 | 14 | 51 | 65 |
Travis Konecny | 51 | 17 | 27 | 44 | Alex Ovechkin | 53 | 40 | 17 | 57 |
Jake Voracek | 54 | 11 | 29 | 40 | Jakub Vrana | 54 | 23 | 22 | 45 |
Claude Giroux | 54 | 13 | 22 | 35 | Evgeny Kuznetsov | 51 | 18 | 27 | 45 |
Kevin Hayes | 54 | 17 | 15 | 32 | Nicklas Backstrom | 46 | 10 | 31 | 41 |
Player to Watch | |
28 Claude Giroux | 8 Alex Ovechkin |
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 1 A, 1 P, -2 | Last 5 Games: 9 G, 1 A, 10 P, +5 |
Projected Goalie Matchup | |
37 Brian Elliott | 70 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 Wing | Center | Right Wing |
28 Claude Giroux | 14 Sean Couturier | 93 Jake Voracek |
21 Scott Laughton | 13 Kevin Hayes | 11 Travis Konecny |
25 James van Riemsdyk | 48 Morgan Frost | 18 Tyler Pitlick |
12 Michael Raffl | 82 Connor Bunnaman | 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel |
Defense | ||
9 Ivan Provorov | 15 Matt Niskanen | |
6 Travis Sanheim | 5 Phil Myers | |
8 Robert Hagg | 61 Justin Braun | |
Goalie | ||
37 Brian Elliott | 34 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 Wing | Center | Right Wing |
8 Alex Ovechkin | 19 Nicklas Backstrom | 77 T.J. Oshie |
13 Jakub Vrana | 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov | 43 Tom Wilson |
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 (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.