After defeating the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Flyers will face them again tonight in the finale of their season series. The Flyers mostly dominated on Wednesday, courtesy of a Travis Konecny hat-trick, but the Capitals made a late surge in the final period.
It’s the fourth and final matchup between both teams this year, with the Capitals leading the season series 2-1-0.
Washington Capitals (23-15-6)
With Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson back in the lineup, not everything went to plan on Wednesday in Philadelphia. The Capitals were outshot 36-29, didn’t have the pace to keep up with the Flyers and spent double the amount of time Philadelphia spent in the penalty box. In a sloppy game resulting in a 5-3 loss, they’ll hope to find answers tonight as they continue to hold fourth place in the Metropolitan Division.
Alexander Ovechkin (29G, 19A) was silent on Wednesday, which is unusual for him. In 70 career games played against Philadelphia, Ovechkin has 77 points (46G, 31A). Chasing Wayne Gretzky, Ovechkin is on a three-game pointless skid and hasn’t found the back of the net since January 5th against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Backstrom (4HIT, 1TK, 38.6%CF) recorded his first assist of the season on Wednesday. He made his debut on January 8th against the Blue Jackets after undergoing hip surgery in 2022. Backstrom’s return has entirely changed the Capitals’ lineup, giving them the resources to compete in a stacked division and conference.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Capitals, per Tom Gulitti:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Sheary
Milano-Backstrom-Wilson
Mantha-Dowd-Oshie
Johansson-Eller-Hathaway
Gustafsson-van Riemsdyk
Orlov-Jensen
Irwin-Fehervary
Kuemper
(Lindgren)
Philadelphia Flyers (17-18-7)
Winners of their last six out of seven games, the Flyers will hope to start from where they left off on Wednesday.
Travis Konecny (24G, 22A) is on an absolute heater with 20 points in his last ten games. His ten-game point streak is the longest active streak in the NHL and the Flyers’ longest one since Claude Giroux in 2017-18. Konecny’s 24 goals currently tie him for eleventh in the NHL.
Along with Konecny, Scott Laughton also had himself a game. He registered a goal and two assists, with two of those points coming on the power play and one short-handed. Laughton is having a quiet, yet steady season with 23 points (10G, 13A) in 38 games. His highest-scoring season was in 2018-19 with 32 points. He’s currently on pace for a career-best season.
Carter Hart (12-12-6, 2.97GAA, 90.7%SV) redeemed himself after a poor performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hart recorded his 12th win of the year while saving 26/29 shots. He’ll get the nod between the pipes tonight.
Here’s the tentative lineup for the Flyers, per Charlie O’Connor:
van Riemsdyk-Frost-Tippett
Farabee-Cates, N-Konecny
Hayes-Laughton-Allison
Deslauriers-Brown-MacEwen
Provorov-York
Sanheim-DeAngelo
Seeler-Ristolainen
Hart
(Ersson)
Place Your Bets
Washington Capitals moneyline (-225)
Philadelphia Flyers moneyline (+190)
Alexander Ovechkin anytime goal (-110)
Travis Konecny anytime goal (+170)
Game Information
You can watch the Philadelphia Flyers take on the Washington Capitals on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The radio broadcast will be available on 97.5 The Fanatic and Flyers Radio 24/7. The puck drops at the Capital One Arena at 7:00pm.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
