What to watch as Flyers faceoff against Capitals, again

It was just four days ago when the Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Washington Capitals in front of fans in Philly for the first time in almost a year. It was quite a disappointing game, but the Flyers will look for revenge Thursday night as face the Capitals yet again at the Wells Fargo Center.

Here’s what to watch Thursday night:

Rematch

The Flyers are 1-1-0 against the Capitals this season, with a 7-4 win in Washington on Feb 7 and a 3-1 loss at home on March 7.

On March 7, the Flyers controlled the first period but only managed scored one goal. The Caps pushed back in the second period and the Flyers were forced to chase the game in the third. The Flyers were unable to come back and fell to the Caps.

Joel Farabee got the Flyers on the board first in the opening period. Goals by Alex Ovechkin and Dmitry Orlov in the final 16 seconds of the second period put the Capitals ahead, 2-1. Nick Jensen added an insurance goal early in the third period. Carter Hart stopped 24 of 27 shots in the loss. Ilya Samsonov earned the win with 36 saves on 37 shots.

Coming off a big shootout win to get back in winning ways

The Flyers have lost three of their last five games but are coming off a 5-4 shootout home win over the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. The Flyers trailed 4-2 halfway through the second, but came back to force overtime, and eventually won in the shootout.

The Flyers struck fast, as James van Riemsdyk score, but then failed on their own loose defensive play and failed to get clutch saves. Sam Reinhart made a pair of goals around a Riley Sheahan rebound goal as Buffalo took a 3-1 lead at the first intermission.

Going into the second period, Carter Hart was pulled out of the game after giving up three goals. Brian Elliot was put in. Hart’s been in a wild slump as of late. A Kevin Hayes goal off a gorgeous backhand pass by Scott Laughton narrowed the gap to 3-2 early in the second period. Brandon Montour restored a two-goal lead on a deflected shot. Claude Giroux got the Flyers back within one-goal on a tip-in from a pass from Jakub Voracek. In the third period, Shayne Gostisbehere got the game knotted at four with a rare Flyers power play goal.

After a scoreless overtime, the game moved to a shootout. Coots decided to shoot rather than deke, but he scored inside the left post. In the second round, Nolan Patrick attacked with speed and scored high to the glove side. Neither Rasmus Dahlin or Casey Mittelstadt scored on their attempts.

Hart lasted just one period, giving up three goals on eight shots. Brian Elliott went the rest of the way, stopping 11 of 12 shots and then going 2-for-2 in the shootout.

Lineups

Flyers:

James van Riemsdyk – Sean Couturier – Joel Farabee
Scott Laughton – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom – Claude Giroux – Jake Voracek
Andy Andreoff – Nolan Patrick- Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Ivan Provorov – Shayne Gostisbehere
Travis Sanheim – Justin Braun
Robert Hägg – Erik Gustafsson

Brian Elliott
[Carter Hart]

PP1: Giroux, Couturier, JVR, Farabee, Gostisbehere.
PP2: Voracek, Hayes, Patrick, Konecny, Provorov.

Scratches: Michael Raffl (hand), Phil Myers (healthy).

Injured reserve: Morgan Frost (shoulder surgery).

COVID-19 protocol: None.

Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Bäckström -T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Daniel Sprong
Conor Sheary – Lars Eller – Richard Panik
Carl Hagelin – Nic Dowd – Garnet Hathaway

Brenden Dillon – John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov- Justin Schultz
Zdeno Chara – Nick Jensen

Ilya Samsonov
[Vitek Vanecek]

PP1: Ovechkin, Bäckström, Oshie, Vrana, Carlson
PP2: Ovechkin, Kuznetsov, Sheary, Sprong, Schultz

Scratches: Jonas Siegenthaler (healthy), Trevor van Riemsdyk (healthy).

Injured reserve: 6 Michal Kempny (Achilles tendon repair surgery), 47 Beck Malenstyn (Achilles tendon repair surgery), 35 Henrik Lundqvist (open heart surgery).

NHL suspension: 43 Tom Wilson (game 3 of 7, eligible to return March 20).

COVID-19 protocol: None.