(Kate Frese/Sports Talk Philly)
By Bill Minchin, Sports Talk Philly writer
The Philadelphia Flyers (22-17-6) are right back at this afternoon as they travel to the red hot Washington Capitals (28-9-5). This is the Flyers last game before their league mandated bye week. Opening faceoff is set for 1:00.
The game is the second of four and first of two games in Washington against their Metropolitan Division rivals.
Philadelphia is coming off a lackluster 6-3 loss in Boston yesterday. Washington on the other hand last played Friday when they won their eigth straight game with a 6-0 defeat of Chicago.
| Flyers Leaders | GP | G | A | P | Capitals Leaders | GP | G | A | P |
| Jake Voracek | 45 | 13 | 28 | 41 | Nicklas Backstrom | 42 | 12 | 28 | 40 |
| Claude Giroux | 45 | 10 | 28 | 38 | Alex Ovechkin | 42 | 21 | 15 | 36 |
| Wayne Simmonds | 45 | 18 | 16 | 34 | Marcus Johansson | 42 | 14 | 15 | 29 |
| Brayden Schenn | 42 | 15 | 15 | 30 | Evgeny Kuznetsov | 42 | 5 | 23 | 28 |
| Travis Konecny | 44 | 7 | 14 | 21 | T. J. Oshie | 34 | 14 | 11 | 25 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 14 Sean Couturier | 74 John Carlson |
| Last 5 Games: 2 G, 1 A, 3 P, Even | Last 5 Games: 1 G, 4 A, 5 P, +9 |
Sean Couturier will most likely get a heavy dose of Alex Ovechkin this afternoon. This is not unusal for Couturier. The young center typically draws the toughest defensive assignments each and every game. Playing with Jakub Voracek, the goal will not be to just shut down the Capitals top line but to generate scoring themselves.
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 35 Steve Mason |
70 Braden Holtby |
| 14-14-6, 2.87 GAA, .901 SV% | 21-8-4, 1.85 GAA, .933 SV% |
After getting yesterday off, Steve Mason will be back between the pipes for Philadelphia this afternoon. Mason made 36 saves in his last outing against Washington picking up a 3-2 shoot out victory back in December
Braden Holtby firmly entrenched himself in the list of elite goal tenders in the NHL. Last year's Vezina Trophy winner is playing like he wants a repeat this season. If Holtby brings his usual game to the rink today, the Flyers will have a tough time picking up a win.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Scratches: Matt Read, Shayne Gostisbehere, Nick Schultz
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 28 Claude Giroux | 11 Travis Konecny |
| 25 Nick Cousins | 14 Sean Couturier | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 22 Dale Weise | 10 Brayden Schenn | 17 Wayne Simmonds |
| 76 Chris VandeVelde | 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare | 13 Roman Lyubimov |
| Defense | ||
| 23 Brandon Manning | 15 Michael Del Zotto | |
| 47 Andrew MacDonald | 9 Ivan Provorov | |
| 32 Mark Streit | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| Goalie | ||
| 35 Steve Mason |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (4th, 6th on the road), Capitals (16th, 16th at home)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (19th, 24th on the road), Capitals (3rd, 6th at home)
- Recent History vs. Washington
- 12/21/16: Philadelphia fell behind 1-0 and 2-1 but battled back with goals by Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux to to force overtime and eventually a shoot out. Wayne Simmonds scored in the top of the fourth round and Mason denied Justin Williams in the bottom of that same round to pick up a 3-2 victory in Philadelphia. Mason had 36 saves through overtime and stopped 3 of 4 shooters in the shoot out.
- Brayden Schenn scored yesterday giving him 99 career goals. It was also his fourth straight game with a goal.
Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
