Flyers-Capitals: Game 42 Preview

Kevin Durso

April 13 2021

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

The trade deadline has come and gone. For the Flyers, there are minimal changes for now, as they bid farewell to two players on expiring contracts at the end of the season in Michael Raffl and Erik Gustafsson. They also locked up Scott Laughton for the next five seasons.

The Washington Capitals, however, were busy. In addition to acquiring Raffl from the Flyers, they also made a blockbuster deal with Detroit, acquiring Anthony Mantha for Jakub Vrana and Richard Panik, plus a pair of draft picks. While Raffl is out for Tuesday's game between the two, Mantha will make his debut with the Capitals.

Game time is at 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	Washington Capitals	GP	G	A	P
James van Riemsdyk	41	13	20	33	Nicklas Backstrom	42	13	29	42
Jake Voracek	38	7	25	32	Alex Ovechkin	38	21	16	37
Claude Giroux	39	11	20	31	John Carlson	42	10	25	35
Sean Couturier	30	12	18	30	T.J. Oshie	41	14	19	33
Joel Farabee	40	15	15	30	Tom Wilson	33	10	15	25

Joel Farabee got a goal and an assist on Sunday, finally breaking through for a goal for the first time in 10 games. Farabee continues to lead the team in goals this season and has emerged as a player that you can build the offensive group around. It will be worth watching to see if that goal can get him heating up again.

Alex Ovechkin continues to get the job done, and has increased his goal total to 21 on the season with 14 games remaining for Washington. A 30-goal season is still very much on the table for the Capitals captain and he looks to keep it going against the Flyers. Ovechkin has scored in all four games against the Flyers this season, totaling five goals.

Brian Elliott is expected to get back in goal on Tuesday. Elliott made 30 saves in Saturday's win against Boston and it was his fourth in his last five games.

Ilya Samsonov gets the start for Washington. While Samsonov has taken the loss in two of his last three starts, he did pick up three straight wins against the Flyers in March.

Projected Lineups

Flyers Scratches: Morgan Frost (injury), Phil Myers (healthy)

Capitals Scratches: Michael Raffl (injury), Trevor van Riemsdyk (healthy)

Lineup Notes

Flyers: No changes are expected to the Flyers lineup ahead of Tuesday's game.
Capitals: Washington's only changes to the lineup come with Monday's new additions.

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-16th), Capitals (4th)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (T-28th), Capitals (8th)
Recent History vs. Capitals
- Feb. 7, 2021 – Flyers 7, Capitals 4 (at WSH)
- March 7, 2021 – Capitals 3, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
- March 11, 2021 – Capitals 5, Flyers 3 (at PHI)
- March 13, 2021 – Capitals 5, Flyers 4 (at PHI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Capitals
- Claude Giroux – 49 GP, 23 G, 23 A, 46 P
- Sean Couturier – 37 GP, 10 G, 19 A, 29 P
- Jake Voracek – 43 GP, 15 G, 22 A, 37 P
- Brian Elliott – 21 GP, 10-8-0, 3.24 GAA, .888 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Claude Giroux needs two power-play goals to pass Eric Lindros for 8th all-time in Flyers history.
- Claude Giroux needs four points to pass Brian Propp for 3rd all-time in Flyers history.