Flyers-Capitals: Game 43 Preview

Kevin Durso

January 8 2019

(Photo: Kate Frese)

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

Monday's shutout loss to the Blues was the seventh straight loss for the Flyers and there is no rest for the weary. The Flyers have fallen to 30th in the league standings with their losing streak — an 0-5-2 mark in the last seven games — and their next test is not any easier.

The Flyers face the Metro-leading Washington Capitals on Tuesday night on the road, trying to avoid an eighth-straight loss.

Game time is at 7:30 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Washington Capitals	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	42	13	33	46	Alex Ovechkin	41	30	17	47
Jake Voracek	42	10	22	32	Nicklas Backstrom	41	10	34	44
Sean Couturier	40	15	14	29	John Carlson	40	6	33	39
Travis Konecny	42	10	13	23	Evgeny Kuznetsov	35	7	29	36
Wayne Simmonds	42	12	6	18	Brett Connolly	41	9	15	24

Player to Watch
28 Claude Giroux	8 Alex Ovechkin
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 2 A, 2 P, -5	Last 5 Games: 1 G, 1 A, 2 P, -2

The Flyers played an uninspired game against St. Louis on Monday night where the best player on the ice was the goaltender and it wasn't even close. That was also a rare night where even Claude Giroux didn't look involved. He's going to be looking for better from himself and the team on Tuesday.

It's pretty rare to see Alex Ovechkin in a scoring slump, especially with a league-leading 31 goals this season. But if there's ever a team where Ovechkin can break the slump, it's the Flyers.

Goalie Matchup
56 Mike McKenna	1 Pheonix Copley
10 GP, 1-4-1, 3.96 GAA, .897 SV%	14 GP, 9-2-2, 2.56 GAA, .915 SV%

This seemed to be a good place to give Carter Hart a test, but after making 33 saves and facing 35 shots against the Blues on Monday, Hart will probably not be the choice for Tuesday's game. That would mean that goalie No. 7, Mike McKenna, would be making his Flyers debut.

Before an overtime loss to Dallas in his last start on Friday, Pheonix Copley had reeled off five wins in a row, including a 35-save shutout against the Senators on Dec. 22. He's been a very capable backup for Washington this season.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Michal Neuvirth, Andrew MacDonald, Brian Elliott, Anthony Stolarz, Corban Knight

Scratches: Jori Lehtera, Phil Varone

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	11 Travis Konecny
23 Oskar Lindblom	19 Nolan Patrick	93 Jake Voracek
25 James van Riemsdyk	40 Jordan Weal	17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl	21 Scott Laughton	22 Dale Weise
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	3 Radko Gudas
8 Robert Hagg	26 Christian Folin
Goalie
56 Mike McKenna

Lineup Notes

No changes to the lineup from Monday's game.

Capitals Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nicklas Backstrom, Christian Djoos

Scratches: Madison Bowey, Dmitrij Jaskin

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
8 Alex Ovechkin	92 Evgeny Kuznetsov	43 Tom Wilson
13 Jakob Vrana	20 Lars Eller	77 T.J. Oshie
65 Andre Burakovsky	72 Travis Boyd	10 Brett Connolly
18 Chandler Stephenson	26 Nic Dowd	25 Devante Smith-Pelly
Defense
2 Michal Kempny	74 John Carlson
9 Dmitry Orlov	2 Matt Niskanen
44 Brooks Orpik	34 Jonas Siegenthaler
Goalie
1 Pheonix Copley

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (29th, 30th on road), Capitals (T-11th, 3rd at home)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-28th, 29th on road), Capitals (T-25th, 24th at home)
Recent History vs. Capitals
- Oct. 14, 2017 – Flyers 8, Capitals 2 (at PHI)
- Jan. 21, 2018 – Flyers 2, Capitals 1 (F/OT) (at WSH)
- Jan. 31, 2018 – Capitals 5, Flyers 3 (at WSH)
- March 18, 2018 – Flyers 6, Capitals 3 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Capitals
- Claude Giroux – 37 GP, 18 G, 19 A, 37 P
- Jake Voracek – 33 GP, 13 G, 13 A, 26 P
- James van Riemsdyk – 26 GP, 7 G, 11 A, 18 P
Milestone Watch
- Wayne Simmonds needs one goal to reach 200 as a Flyer.
- Travis Konecny needs two points to reach 100 for his career.
- Claude Giroux needs four assists to reach 500 for his career.