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Flyers Gameday: 1/27/16 @ WSH |
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UPDATE 11:15 AM
The Flyers have recalled Jason LaBarbera from Lehigh Valley for tonight's game in Washington. Presumably he will back up Michal Neuvirth in lieu of Steve Mason, who has not practiced since Sunday. Mason is officially day-to-day with a lower body injury.
PREVIEW: FLYERS @ CAPITALS
In their final game before the NHL All-Star Break, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (20-18-8) are in DC to take on Barry Trotz's NHL-leading Washington Capitals (35-8-3). Game time at the Verizon Center is 8:00 p.m. ET. The Wednesday Night Rivalry game will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network.
This is the second of four games between the teams this season and the first of two in Washington. On Nov. 12 in Philadelphia, the Flyers got off to a good start but were then picked apart repeatedly by the Capitals' high-powered attack in a 5-2 verdict. After this game, the teams will meet again on Feb. 7 in Washington and March 30 in Philadelphia.
The Flyers last played on Monday, hosting the Boston Bruins. For the Capitals, it has been a long time since the club last played a game. Due to weather-related postponements of their Jan. 22 (Anaheim Ducks) and Jan. 24 (Pittsburgh Penguins) games, the Capitals have gone seven straight nights without a game and have only played once in the last nine nights. On Jan. 19, the Caps grabbed a 6-3 road win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are 5-3-1 over their last nine games but have lost three straight games in regulation; including two were they battled back to erase third-period deficits only to yield the game deciding goal late in regulation.
On Monday, the Flyers fell in a 2-0 hole to the Bruins as Boston scored two power play goals and outshot Philly by a 16-8 margin. The Flyers were the better team over most of the final 40 minutes and clawed back to tie the game on power play and even strength goals by Wayne Simmonds. However, a deflection goal with 1:54 left in the third period sent the Flyers down to a 3-2 defeat. Michal Neuvirth stopped 28 of 31 shots in a losing cause.
The Flyers held an optional practice on Tuesday. Sean Couturier (lower-body injury) is doubtful to play on Wednesday. Steve Mason, who took back-to-back maintenance days on Monday and Tuesday but backed up Neuvirth against Boston, should be available to back up Neuvirth again.
Nine players participated in Tuesday's practice. Evgeny Medvedev, a healthy scratch on Monday, was the lone defenseman to take part.
Former Capitals goalie Neuvirth will make his first career appearance playing against Washington. Although he was seen limping in the dressing room after Monday's game, Neuvirth practiced on Tuesday. He pronounced himself "good enough" to play and said he was feeling much better.
After a slow start to the season, Jakub Voracek has finally hit a groove over the last month. He has at least one point in 14 of his last 17 games. In that span, the Czech forward has compiled 19 points (five goals, 14 assists). The injured Couturier has 14 points in his last 14 games.
Team captain Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 14 goals, 23 assists and 37 points in 46 games. He is followed on the Flyers' scoring leader list by Voracek (six goals, 28 assists, 34 points), Simmonds (14 goals, 14 assists, 28 points, 88 penalty minutes), and Brayden Schenn (11 goals, 14 assists, 25 points). Couturier rounds out the top five with nine goals, 13 assists and 22 points. Rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere has contributed eight goals (four on the power play, three in overtime), 12 assists and 20 points in 28 games.
Mason has appeared in 29 games, posting a 10-12-6 record, 2.72 goals against average, .914 save percentage and three shutouts (four regulation shutouts). Neuvirth has appeared in 19 games, posting a 10-5-2 record, 2.05 GAA, .936 save percentage and three shutouts.
Capitals Outlook
Mother Nature succeeded in doing what few NHL teams have been able to accomplish: grounding the Washington Capitals to a halt. Prior to the back-to-back postponements, the Caps had been moving down their opponents. The Capitals are 7-1-1 in the month of January and, for the season, boast an imposing 18-3-1 record on home ice.
The Capitals have shown few weaknesses this season en route to compiling the NHL's best record. They have the NHL's most potent offense, stingiest defense, top-rated power play and top-rated combined special teams percentage, best even-strength goal differential, strong goaltending on most nights and one of the league's most respected coaches in Trotz.
Washington's challenge now will be to stay in rhythm and remain focused. They hold a 14-point lead atop the Metropolitan Division and a 10-point cushion for the top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. After this game, the Caps are on All-Star break hiatus until Feb. 2. By the time they take to ice for a road game against the Florida Panthers, the Capitals will have played only one game -- this one -- over a span of 15 nights. That is far too many idle nights for a club.
On the bright side, the long layoff will continue to give some banged-up players time to heal. Defenseman John Carlson, on the injured reserve list with a lower-body injury, may be activated on Wednesday and suit up against the Flyers.
The Caps are still missing Brooks Orpik (lower body) and Jay Beagle (upper body) from the lineup. Both players remain on IR.
Electrifying young forward Evgeny Kuznetsov leads the Capitals' balanced attack in overall scoring, compiling 48 points (15 goals, 33 assists) in 46 games. He is followed by veteran star Nicklas Bäckström (15 goals, 29 assists, 44 points), superstar Alexander Ovechkin (28 goals, 14 assists, 42 points), former Flyers forward Justin Williams (16 goals, 17 assists, 33 points), Marcus Johansson(13 goals, 17 assists, 30 points), T.J. Oshie (15 goals, 13 assists, 28 points) and Jason Chimera (13 goals, 14 assists, 27 points). Carlson leads the blueline with six goals and 27 points in 34 games played.
Number one goaltender Braden Holtby has posted a 30-5-2 record, 2.01 goals against average, .930 save percentage and two shutouts in 38 games. Backup Philipp Grubauer has made 11 appearances and eight starts, posting a 5-3-1 record, 2.12 GAA and .925 save percentage.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.24 (28th), Capitals 3.33 (1st)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.61 (T-15th), Capitals 2.15 (1st)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 64/68, Capitals 97/66
Power play efficiency: Flyers 17.4% (T-22nd), Capitals 27.1% (1st)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 77.7% (25th), Capitals 84.9% (4th)
Shots per game: Flyers 30.4 (11th), Capitals 30.7 (8th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 32.4 (29th), Capitals 28.9 (T-10th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.0% (T-15th), Capitals 50.2% (T-10th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
93 Jakub Voracek - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
24 Matt Read - 12 Michael Raffl - 10 Brayden Schenn
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White
20 R.J. Umberger - 21 Scott Laughton - 89 Sam Gagner
15 Michael Del Zotto - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
30 Michal Neuvirth
[49 Jason LaBarbera]
Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev (healthy), Jordan Weal (healthy), Sean Couturier (day-to-day, lower body), Steve Mason (lower-body).
Capitals
8 Alex Ovechkin - 19 Nicklas Backström - 77 T.J. Oshie
65 Andre Burakovsky - 92 Evgeny Kuznetsov - 14 Justin Williams
25 Jason Chimera - 90 Marcus Johansson - 43 Tom Wilson
21 Brooks Laich - 10 Mike Richards - 46 Michael Latta
27 Karl Alzner - 2 Matt Niskanen
9 Dmitri Orlov - 88 Nate Schmidt
20 Ryan Stanton - 4 Taylor Chorne
70 Braden Holtby
[31 Philipp Grubauer]
Scratches: John Carlson (questionable, lower body), Stanislav Galiev (healthy), Brooks Orpik (IR, lower body), Jay Beagle (IR, upper body).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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