In the second game of a five-game road trip, John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (28-33-8) are in DC on Thursday evening to take on Spencer Carbery's Washington Capitals (45-15-8). Game time at Capital One Arena is 7:00 p.m. EDT.
The game will be televised on NBCSP. The radio broadcast is on 97.5 The Fanatic with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
This is the fourth and final meeting of the season series between the Flyers and Capitals, and the second game in Washington. The Flyers are 0-3-0 against the Caps this season: 4-1 at Wells Fargo Center (Oct. 22), 6-3 at Capital One Arena (Oct. 23) and 4-3 back at Wells Fargo Center (Feb. 6).
The Flyers are 1-7-0 over their last eight games, and are coming off a 2-0 loss in Tampa Bay on Monday. A breakaway goal by Lightning superstar Nikita Kucherov and a late-game empty net goal (5-on-5) by Jake Guentzel made the difference. In a losing cause, Ivan Fedotov gave Philadelphia a chance to pull off an upset if they had been able to scratch out some offense.
The Capitals, who need one win to reach 100 points for the season and sit atop the Eastern Conference, have won back-to-back matches. The Caps are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. With one game in hand over the Winnipeg Jets, the Capitals also sit atop the President's Trophy race for the best record in the NHL.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch on Thursday, plus an x-factor heading into the game.
1. Between the pipes
The Flyers have not yet named their starting goaltender for Thursday's game as of this writing. However, it should be noted that Fedotov has played very well in four of his last five appearances despite having only one win to show for it.
Fedotov was outstanding in the Flyers' 2-1 (1-0) shootout road victory against the Jets on March 1. He turned back 29 of 30 shots in regulation and overtime before going 3-for-3 in the shootout.
In relief of starter Samuel Ersson, Fedotov made 26 saves on 28 shots in a 6-3 home loss to the Calgary Flames on March 4. Five days later, Fedotov turned back 20 of 22 shots in a 3-1 loss to the Devils. The final New Jersey goal by Dawson Mercer was an empty-net tally.
Fedotov had a so-so night (19 saves on 23 shots) in a 5-2 loss to the Ottawa Senators on March 11. That was followed up by his strong performance in Tampa earlier this week.
Fedotov is 5-12-3 on the season with a 2.98 goals against average and .887 save percentage. Ersson is 19-13-4 with a 3.02 GAA, .886 save percentage and two shutouts.
Ersson generated an encouraging run after the Christmas break through his first start following the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament (10-4-1, 2.32 GAA,.916 SV%, one shutout). Since then, however, it's been a struggle (2-3-0, 4.00 GAA, .847 SV%).
On the Washington side, the goaltending tandem of primary starter Logan Thompson (39 GP, 30-4-5, 2.29 GAA, .917 SV%, two shutouts) and Charlie Lindgren (30 GP, 15-11-3, 2.65 GAA, .899 SV%, one shutout) have helped the Caps post the NHL's second-best team goals against average. Only the Jets (2.33 GAA) have been stingier than the Capitals (2.54 GAA).
As is always the case with a teamwide goals against average, the skaters in front of the goaltender share a large portion of the credit -- or blame -- with the netminders themselves. Players' confidence level in their team's goaltenders, along with execution and the actual saves that are/aren't made are all pieces of the winning equation.
That said, consistently reliable goalie play in and of itself can help keep a team competitive. The Capitals have gotten that all season, especially from Thompson.
2. Frontline and depth scoring
In addition to having the NHL's second-lowest team goals against average, the Capitals lead the league offensively with an average 3.63 goals scored per game. How have they done it with only one player -- veteran superstar Alex Ovechkin (56 points in 50 games) -- who is averaging more than a point-per-game this season?
One-word answer: depth.
The Capitals' roster may not look overwhelming in terms of its individual talents beyond Ovechkin, at least not as compared to the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in Edmonton or Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar in Colorado. Washington, however, can beat opponents through sheer depth up and down the lineup whether its the forward corps or contributions from the blueline.
This is what the Flyers will need to combat if they are to avoid getting swept in the season series with the Capitals. Washington rarely beats itself with careless play with or without the puck. It's vital for the Flyers to check effectively (in a low-event game if possible), take away the middle of ice, and generate enough pucks and traffic to the net to win a low-scoring game.
To beat Washington, the Flyers need Travis Konecny in particular to have a slump-busting performance. Konecny (65 points in 69 games) is trying to play his way out of a rough patch in which he's posted 15 points (2g, 13a) in the last 24 games and just two points (0g, 2a) in the last nine games.
The burden of creating offense, however, cannot fall entirely on TK. To upset the Capital on their home ice, the Flyers need points -- not just scoring chances, but goals -- from two or more players such as Owen Tippett, rookie Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Bobby Brink, Noah Cates and the defense corps (especially Travis Sanheim, Jamie Drysdale and Cam York).
A positive sign: Over the aforementioned 24-game sampling since Jan. 16, it's actually Michkov (7g, 9a, 16 points) who has been the Flyers' leading point-getter. That bodes well for how the rookie has been developing offensively even amid a teamwide scuffle for goals.
Meanwhile, behind enemy lines: Even if Ovechkin is kept quiet on a given night, there is a strong possibility that others will step up. The likes of Dylan Strome (67 points), top line right wing Aliakei Protas (61 points), top line center Pierre-Luc Dubois (60 points) and veteran defensemen John Carlson (41 assists) and Jakob Chychrun (18 goals, 43 points) are plenty dangerous.
So, too, are veteran power forward Tom Wilson (30 goals, 57 points) and Connor McMichael (24 goals, 52 points). It's precisely the level of depth and the combination of skill and grit that have enabled Jack Adams Award favorite Carbery's team to overachieve to such a high degree this season.
3. Flyers special teams
The Flyers rank 30th on the power play (14.3 percent) and 17th on the penalty kill (77.8 percent). For the month of March, the Flyers are 0-for-23 on the power play with one shorthanded goal allowed. The PK is 16-for-23 (69.7 percent).
Philadelphia's struggles on the power play have been thoroughly documented. All that can be added is this: The Flyers first power play in Tampa Bay generated five shots on goal and massive pressure but no goal. However, a vital four-minute power play in the second period of a 1-0 game failed to produce any shots on goal. There were a couple of looks, but no pucks made it on net.
The Flyers penalty kill has yo-yoed all season: outstanding from the start of the season through Thanksgiving. The PK then went cold in December through the next seven weeks. The ship was righted until March, where it's been a struggle once again to get the game back to five-on-five without taking damage on the scoreboard.
There has been a lot of recent attrition on the penalty killing units between trades (Scott Laughton to Toronto) and injuries (Garnet Hathaway and Rasmus Ristolainen).
Roster depletions mean opportunities for other players. Most notably, Brink saw the first significant penalty killing ice time of his NHL career (1:08) in Monday's game against Tampa Bay. More expectedly, the Laughton trade has increased the PK duties for Noah Cates and Ryan Poehling since the trade deadline.
Meanwhile, over the last four games, Tortorella and associate coach Brad Shaw (who run the penalty kill) have tried to slightly lessen the penalty killing burden on Konecny (1:58) while giving a little extra PK time to Foerster (2:17).
In the bigger picture, goaltending once again needs to be mentioned in light of the Flyers' hot-and-cold penalty kill.
Now let's look at Thursday's opponent: The Capitals' outstanding win-loss record this season is first and foremost due to their outstanding goal differential at 5-on-5: +49. Washington leads the NHL with 166 goals scored at 5-on-5. The Caps are tied for the fourth-fewest 5-on-5 goals allowed at 117.
In terms of special teams, the Capitals' power play ranks 16th (22.3 percent) to place right in the middle of the pack. The PK ranks 6th (82.4 percent) to fall comfortable within the top one-third of the league.
Overall, the Capitals have a special teams index of 104.7. The Jets (109.4, including a league-best 30.7 percent power play) have the NHL's best combined special teams efficiency. Washington isn't too far behind, though, in special teams impact.
When special teams play is combined with even-strength effectiveness, it becomes easy to see why the Capitals lead the President's Trophy race and Winnipeg is tied in points.
4. Winning the draw
One area where the Flyers and Capitals have been fairly even overall this season has been in the faceoff circle. Both teams are very slightly above the break-even point.
Washington is tied for 16th leaguewide with a team 50.2 percent mark on faceoffs. The Flyers rank next at 50.1 percent on faceoffs.
As has often been the case throughout his NHL career when healthy, Sean Couturier leads the Flyers with a 56.1 percent rate of winning faceoffs. He is especially effective on his strong side, winning north of sixty percent of left circle draws.
Ryan Poehling is second among Flyers' pivots at 51.0 percent overall, followed by Cates at 45.5 percent. Note: fourth-line center Rodrigo Abols has played in just 15 games but has won 52.6 percent of his faceoffs.
On the Washington side, Strome has won 54.6 percent of his faceoffs. Veteran center Lars Eller is next at 51.9 percent. Dubois has won 48.8 percent. Nic Dowd is at 49.9 percent.
X-Factor: Gretzky Chase
Ovechkin enters Thursday's game with 887 career goals in 1,478 games. He needs seven goals to tie the immortal Wayne Gretzy for the NHL's all-time goal-scoring record.
Ovechkin would need seven goals within his next eight games to match Gretzky's goal total in fewer games that Gretzky's 1,487 career regular season matches. If it takes nine games, Gretzky and Ovechkin will both have 894 goals in 1,487 regular season games.
It's quite unlikely that any player will ever match Gretzky's career 2,857 points. In fact, even if Gretzky never scored a single goal in his career, he'd still be the NHL's all-time point leader on the strength of his 1,963 assists. Jaromir Jagr (1,921 points) is second on the all-time points list.
In terms of combined regular season and playoff goals, Gretzky's 122 postseason tallies gave him 1,016 goals between the regular season and the Stanley Cup playoffs. Ovechkin has 72 career playoff goals to date. Come playoff time, depending on how long the Capitals are able to go in the postseason, Ovechkin (currently 17th all-time) could take aim at the likes of Jean Beliveau (10th, 79 goals), Jagr (11th, 78 goals) and Mario Lemieux (12th, 76 goals).
