October 22 vs. Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center
Time: 6 p.m.
TV: ESPN, ESPN+
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Caps Radio 24/7
Washington Capitals (3-1-0)
Philadelphia Flyers (1-3-1)
The Caps finish up their first road trip of the season on Tuesday in Philadelphia against the Flyers. A night later in DC, the two teams will conclude a home-and-home set of games when the Caps host Philly at Capital One Arena.
Washington carries a three-game winning streak into Tuesday’s game. The Capitals opened the trip with a thrilling 6-5 victory over the Devils in New Jersey on Saturday night. In that game, Washington led 3-1 and 5-3, only to see the pesky Devils rally to pull even twice, forcing overtime the second time. But Caps winger Tom Wilson – who scored Washington’s first goal of the game in the first period – won it for Washington with a minute left in the extra session.
“Sometimes they’re going in, and you’ve got to enjoy it,” shrugs Wilson of his hot start to the season. “It’s a tough League to score goals; it’s a lot of good passes and a lot of good teammates. I’m always happy to help this team win, and we’re coming together as a group. That’s all that matters right now, so we’ll just keep building on it.”
Wilson has scored in each of the team’s first four games, tying a franchise record previously achieved by Caps’ greats Dennis Maruk (1979-80), Mike Gartner (1987-88) and Alex Ovechkin (2013-14).
After Saturday’s game, Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery noted that his club was running on fumes in the third period.
“I think we were tired, honestly,” says Caps’ center Nic Dowd. “I know personally, I was a little tired. Three [games] in five [nights], travel, stuff like that. And they’re a fast team; they play fast in their building, and they had the momentum.”
Washington had locked down third period leads in each of its previous two wins – on home ice against Vegas and Dallas, respectively – but its goaltenders have not surrendered a goal that would put the Capitals behind on the scoreboard at any point during the modest winning streak.
On Tuesday in Philadelphia, the Caps will seek to stretch that winning streak to four. The last time they won as many as four in a row in October was in 2019-20, when they finished the month on a 6-0-1 run, with that overtime loss (in Edmonton on Oct. 24, 2019) tucked in between the fourth and fifth victories.
In the aftermath of Saturday’s uplifting victory, the Caps took a late-night bus ride down the New Jersey turnpike to Philadelphia, arriving in the wee minutes of Sunday morning. Sunday was splendid weather day in the City of Brotherly Love, and the Caps were able to enjoy a day away from the rigors of the rink before reconvening for a Monday morning practice session at the Flyers’ practice complex in Voorhees, NJ.
“I think it was extremely important to be able to recharge the batteries,” begins Carbery, “after not just that game and playing against New Jersey – first road game of the year, tough opponent – but also, I think, from the little bit of a hangover from the Vegas and Dallas games that took a lot out of us, physically and mentally. [Today was a] good day to recharge and then right back at it [Monday] and refuel for a difficult back-to-back matchup with Philly.”
Last season, the Caps didn’t score their 16th goal of the season until their eighth game; they scored 17 goals and were sitting at 4-3-1 at that early stage of the campaign. With a revamped roster this season, they’ve found an overall offensive groove early in the campaign and will be seeking to keep that going in these next two games against the Flyers.
Washington has scored 16 goals in its first four games, and it has put a crooked number on the scoreboard in four of its last nine periods of hockey, including the second period of each of its last three games.
“I feel like the guys we picked up and got to our team are so talented, and they’re really good hockey players,” says Caps’ defenseman Rasmus Sandin. “I feel like they’re so smart that they fit in with the way we want to play, and they also fit in off the ice. I feel like I have played with these guys for a longer time than I actually have, which is a good sign. That means that connection you have with them off the ice, you’re bringing it on the ice a little bit, too.”
Philadelphia opened its season with a four-game Western road trip, squeaking out a 3-2 shootout victory on opening night in Vancouver on Oct. 11. The Flyers have dropped four straight (0-3-1) since, most recently suffering a 3-0 shutout loss to the Canucks on Saturday in Philly’s home opener.
Last season, Philly jumped out to a surprisingly strong start. The Flyers were sitting at 25-14-6 after extending a winning streak to five straight on Jan. 18 of this year. At that stage of the season, they were in second place in the Metropolitan Division, and comfortably in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
Two days later, goaltender Carter Hart – the only one of five goalies deployed by Philly to finish last season with a save pct. above .900 – played his last game of the season before stepping away from the team to deal with ongoing legal woes, and Philly’s fortunes quickly took a southerly turn.
The Flyers went 13-19-5 (.419) the rest of the way, the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference over the season’s final three months. From the end of that five-game winning streak to the end of the season, Philly yielded an alarming average of 3.81 goals per game, second worst in the NHL over that span (San Jose, 4.00).
