Flyers-Capitals: Game 64 Preview

Flyers Leaders	GP	G	A	P	Capitals Leaders	GP	G	A	P
Jake Voracek	63	17	35	52	Nicklas Backstrom	63	19	45	64
Claude Giroux	63	12	33	45	Alex Ovechkin	63	27	27	54
Wayne Simmonds	63	27	17	44	Evgeny Kuznetsov	63	15	36	51
Brayden Schenn	60	19	23	42	T.J. Oshie	50	24	19	43
Valtteri Filppula	60	8	27	35	Marcus Johansson	63	21	22	43

 

Player to Watch
51 Valterri Filppula	92 Evgeny Kuznetsov
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, +1	Last 5 Games: 3 G, 3 A, 6 P, E

 

Valtteri Filppula had the Flyers only goal in regulation in Thursday's shootout win against Florida and appeared to make an instant impact on the Flyers second line with Brayden Schenn and Jake Voracek. With that line posing a legitimate threat and Filppula coming advertised with good two-way ability, this will be a chance to prove it to Flyers fans.

 

After two relatively quiet games against the Flyers, Evgeny Kuznetsov scored two goals against the Flyers last Wednesday. The Capitals forward has just 51 points this season after reaching 77 points a season ago, but remains one of the team's big scoring threats.

 

Goalie Matchup
35 Steve Mason	70 Braden Holtby
18-17-6, 2.78 GAA, .905 SV%	33-8-5, 1.91 GAA, .930 SV%

After two strong starts in back-to-back games on Tuesday and Thursday, expect Steve Mason back between the pipes against Washington on Saturday night.

Braden Holtby made things look easy in Philadelphia last Wednesday, making 33 saves on 34 shots. He is back between the pipes for Washington per usual.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Dale Weise, Roman Lyubimov, Nick Schultz, Michael Raffl

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
40 Jordan Weal	28 Claude Giroux	17 Wayne Simmonds
10 Brayden Schenn	51 Valtteri Filppula	93 Jake Voracek
11 Travis Konecny	14 Sean Couturier	25 Nick Cousins
76 Chris VandeVelde	78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	24 Matt Read
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	47 Andrew MacDonald
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	23 Brandon Manning
15 Michael Del Zotto	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
35 Steve Mason

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (10th, 6th on road), Capitals (T-5th, 7th at home)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (13th, 20th on road), Capitals (6th, 5th at home) 
• Recent History vs. Capitals
  • Dec. 21, 2016 - The Flyers claimed a 3-2 shootout win over the Capitals in Philadelphia. Andre Burakovsky opened the scoring late in the first period before Michael Raffl scored the tying goal just over four minutes into the second. The teams traded goals later in the second with Lars Eller scoring for Washington and Claude Giroux tying the game with 21 seconds left in the period. After a scoreless third and a hectic overtive, the Flyers got goals from Jake Voracek and Wayne Simmonds in the shootout to secure the win.
  • Jan. 15, 2017 – The Capitals routed the Flyers, 5-0, in Washington. Through two periods, Washington held a 1-0 lead on a goal by Andre Burakovsky. But in the third, a pair of goals by Matt Niskanen and Justin Williams started the rout and the Capitals rolled to a shutout win behind 24 saves from Phillip Grubauer.
  • Feb. 22, 2017 – The Capitals defeated the Flyers, 4-1, in Philadelphia. Two goals in the first by Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov gave Washington a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. The Flyers had a goal disallowed for goalie interference just 23 seconds into the first. In the second, Ivan Provorov hit the crossbar on a shot that was initially ruled a goal on the ice. Finally, at 6:54 of the second, Brayden Schenn scored on a deflection to cut the lead in half. Kuznetsov scored his second goal of the game with 2:01 left in the second and T.J. Oshie scored the only goal of the third with 5:17 remaining to seal the win for Washington. Braden Holtby made 33 saves in the win. Michal Neuvirth stopped 25 of 29 shots in the loss.
• Flyers leaders vs. Capitals
• Claude Giroux – 32 games, 16 goals, 16 assists, 32 points
• Jake Voracek - 28 games, 11 goals, 8 assists, 19 points
• Matt Read – 20 games, 2 goals, 8 assists, 10 points
• Steve Mason - 18 games, 9-6-2, 2.62 GAA, .904 Sv%

Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 93.3 WMMR