Round Robin Game 2 Preview: Flyers-Capitals

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

If the Flyers wanted to find a way to move up from the fourth seed to the first seed, they were very likely going to need to sweep competition in the Round Robin. They got off to a good start with a 4-1 win over Boston on Sunday.

Heading into the second game of the three-game Round Robin on Thursday afternoon against the Washington Capitals, the Flyers are very much in control of their own destiny in many ways. Boston lost again on Wednesday to Tampa Bay, 3-2. If the Flyers can get a point against Washington, they will officially move up at least one seed and finish no lower than the third-seed in the playoffs. If they win in regulation, they can lock up a top-two seed and set up a game where the winner takes the top seed when they play again on Saturday.

But first, they have to handle the Capitals, who bring offensive firepower, solid defense and an experienced netminder to this tournament.

Game time is 4 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Washington Capitals	GP	G	A	P
Michael Raffl	1	1	1	2	Richard Panik	1	1	0	1
Phil Myers	1	1	0	1	Evgeny Kuznetsov	1	1	0	1
Scott Laughton	1	1	0	1	Dmitry Orlov	1	0	1	1
Nate Thompson	1	1	0	1	Nicklas Backstrom	1	0	1	1
Travis Sanheim	1	0	1	1	Lars Eller	1	0	1	1

Player to Watch
28 Claude Giroux	8 Alex Ovechkin
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, +1	Last 5 Games: 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, E

In the exhibition game, the top two lines handled the production. In Sunday's game against Boston, the fourth line was the driver. It could be the captain's turn to make a big contribution. Claude Giroux had an assist in the exhibition and was held without a point on Sunday.

Alex Ovechkin had a big debut in the bubble in the exhibition with a pair of goals, then was held off the board by the Lightning. The Flyers have done a good job of keeping him quiet throughout the season, but he always needs to be accounted for on the ice.

Projected Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	70 Braden Holtby
0 GP, 0-0-0, -.– GAA, .— SV%	1 GP, 0-0-1, 1.85 GAA, .929 SV%

We already knew Brian Elliott was going to get a start at some point during the Round Robin. Given the potential magnitude of Saturday's game against Tampa, this would be the time to get Elliott into a game. Elliott has faced the Capitals twice this season, winning both starts.

Braden Holtby gets back between the pipes for the Capitals on Thursday. The veteran goalie for the Capitals made 26 saves on 28 shots in a shootout loss to the Lightning on Monday.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
21 Scott Laughton	13 Kevin Hayes	11 Travis Konecny
49 Joel Farabee	38 Derek Grant	62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
25 James van Riemsdyk	44 Nate Thompson	18 Tyler Pitlick
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	15 Matt Niskanen
6 Travis Sanheim	5 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg	61 Justin Braun
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott	79 Carter Hart

Capitals Projected Lineup

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
8 Alex Ovechkin	92 Evgeny Kuznetsov	43 Tom Wilson
13 Jakub Vrana	19 Nicklas Backstrom	77 T.J. Oshie
62 Carl Hagelin	72 Travis Boyd	17 Ilya Kovalchuk
14 Richard Panik	26 Nic Dowd	21 Garnet Hathaway
Defense
4 Brenden Dillon	9 Dmitry Orlov
6 Michal Kempny	33 Radko Gudas
34 Jonas Siegenthaler	3 Nick Jensen
Goalie
70 Braden Holtby	41 Vitek Vanecek

Lineup Notes

Flyers: James van Riemsdyk and Connor Bunnaman rotated spots on the fourth line in practice on Wednesday. Alain Vigneault said he is expecting more out of van Riemsdyk, and also eluded to other changes at forward for Thursday. That leaves the possibility that van Riemsdyk may not play as a coach's decision, but it would be more likely that the demotion to the fourth line is more of the message being sent.
Capitals: Lars Eller will miss Thursday's game, as he has returned home for the birth of his second child. Defenseman John Carlson, who left early in the exhibition and missed the first Round Robin game, is a game-time decision for Thursday.

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-18th), Capitals (T-7th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-1st), Capitals (T-23rd)
Recent History vs. Capitals
- Nov. 13, 2019 – Capitals 2, Flyers 1 (F/SO) (at PHI)
- Jan. 8, 2020 – Flyers 3, Capitals 2 (at PHI)
- Feb. 8, 2020 – Flyers 7, Capitals 2 (at WSH)
- March 4, 2020 – Flyers 5, Capitals 2 (at WSH)
Flyers Leaders vs. Capitals
- Claude Giroux – 45 GP, 22 G, 23 A, 45 P
- Sean Couturier – 33 GP, 8 G, 15 A, 23 P
- Jake Voracek – 39 GP, 15 G, 19 A, 34 P
- Brian Elliott – 19 GP, 10-7-0, 3.09 GAA, .895 SV%