Flyers-Capitals: Game 5 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Washington Capitals	GP	G	A	P
Jake Voracek	4	0	6	6	Alex Ovechkin	5	9	1	10
Shayne Gostisbehere	4	0	5	5	Evgeny Kuznetsov	5	0	10	10
Wayne Simmonds	4	4	0	4	Nicklas Backstrom	5	2	8	10
Sean Couturier	4	1	2	3	T.J. Oshie	5	5	2	7
Jordan Weal	4	1	2	3	Jakub Vrana	5	1	3	4

 

Player to Watch
40 Jordan Weal	8 Alex Ovechkin
Last 5 Games: 1 G, 2 A, 3 P, +2	Last 5 Games: 9 G, 1 A, 10 P, +5

 

Jordan Weal has done a lot of the little things right and has helped set up some scoring chances in essentially every game the Flyers have played so far. It's only a matter of time before those start finding the back of the net.

 

 

What more can you say about the start Alex Ovechkin is having? The Capitals captain continued his goal-scoring charge on Friday night with his ninth goal in five games. He also has 10 points in that time, averaging two per game in the season's early stretch. There's not question Ovechkin is the one to watch because he's putting the puck in the net, but Washington also has two other players with 10 points in five games as well.

 

Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	31 Philipp Grubauer
2-1-0, 3.67 GAA, .876 SV%	0-0-1, 3.81 GAA, .900 SV%

The ending of Tuesday's game is one everyone would like to forget, including Brian Elliott, who finished the game allowing six goals on 31 shots. Elliott gets his chance for redemption, starting the home opener on Saturday night.

With Braden Holtby getting the start in New Jersey on Friday, Philipp Grubauer gets Saturday's start against the Flyers. Grubauer allowed four goals in an overtime loss in his only start of the season so far. Grubauer does have excellent career numbers against the Flyers, with a 2-1-0 record and 1.69 GAA in four starts.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Jori Lehtera, Travis Sanheim

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
40 Jordan Weal	51 Valtteri Filppula	17 Wayne Simmonds
22 Dale Weise	19 Nolan Patrick	11 Travis Konecny
20 Taylor Leier	21 Scott Laughton	12 Michael Raffl
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	47 Andrew MacDonald
23 Brandon Manning	3 Radko Gudas
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	8 Robert Hagg
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

It appears the only change to the lineup will be Brandon Manning getting back on the ice with Travis Sanheim sitting out Saturday's home opener as a healthy scratch.

Capitals Projected Lineup

Injuries: Matt Niskanen

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
8 Alex Ovechkin	92 Evgeny Kuznetsov	13 Jakub Vrana
65 Andre Burakovsky	19 Nicklas Backstrom	77 T.J. Oshie
10 Brett Connolly	20 Lars Eller	43 Tom Wilson
39 Alex Chiasson	83 Jay Beagle	25 Devante Smith-Pelly
Defense
9 Dmitry Orlov	74 John Carlson
44 Brooks Orpik	55 Aaron Ness
29 Christian Djoos	22 Madison Bowey
Goalie
31 Philipp Grubauer

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (T-8th), Capitals (1st, 1st on road)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-29th), Capitals (19th, T-9th on road) 
• Recent History vs. Capitals
  • Dec. 21, 2016 – Flyers 3, Capitals 2 (SO)
  • Jan. 15, 2017 - Capitals 5, Flyers 0
  • Feb. 22, 2017 – Capitals 4, Flyers 1
  • March 4, 2017 – Capitals 2, Flyers 1 (OT)
• Flyers Leaders vs. Capitals
  • Claude Giroux – 33 GP, 16 G, 16 A, 32 P
  • Jake Voracek – 29 GP, 11 G, 8 A, 19 P
  • Wayne Simmonds – 28 GP, 5 G, 8 A, 13 P
  • Brian Elliott – 13 GP, 6-5-0, 3.31 GAA 
• Milestone Watch
  • Valtteri Filppula is playing in his 800th NHL game tonight.
  • Claude Giroux needs one goal to move into 15th all-time in Flyers history. Giroux also needs three assists to reach 400 for his career.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic