The Capitals faced the best team in the Western Conference on Friday night and were not all that impressed with their effort against the Vancouver Canucks. On Tuesday night, they get a shot at the Eastern Conference’s best squad. Washington begins a three-game road trip in Philadelphia. The defending Eastern Conference champions are three points clear of the next best team in the conference. The Flyers (29-11-5, 63 points) also just completed a stretch of nine road games in their last 10 and still went 7-3.
“They’re a complete team,” Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Washington split its two previous meetings this season with Philadelphia — both games going past regulation at Verizon Center. But the Caps haven’t lost to the Flyers in regulation in their past six games, either. Last season they scored 13 goals in two games at Wells Fargo Center — one of them an 8-2 drubbing in the first game coached by Peter Laviolette on Dec. 5, 2009. That type of barrage seems unlikely on Tuesday. Washington has topped three goals just twice in its last 20 games. Meanwhile, the Flyers average 3.42 goals per game, the second-highest total in the NHL.
| Caps notes |
| » Defenseman Mike Green didn’t practice on Monday, though coach Bruce Boudreau said it was related to illness and had nothing to do with a hit from Ottawa’s Nick Foligno during Sunday’s game. |
| » Caps forward Alex Semin and defenseman Tom Poti — both out with lower-body injuries — were not expected to make the three-game trip. |
| » Neither Washington goalies — Semyon Varlamov and Michal Neuvirth — have ever beaten Philadelphia. |
“It’s huge challenge, I think,” Caps forward Alex Ovechkin said. “Right now we win our game [Sunday] and we feel pretty good. Again, it’s [a] huge rivalry. It’s going to be a big game for us. We have to play our best.”
Washington used a three-goal third period against Ottawa on Sunday to rally for a 3-1 win. That snapped a three-game losing streak and pushed it into a tie with Tampa Bay for first place in the Southeast Division — though technically the Caps are still the No. 5 seed in the conference because the Lightning have one more win in 46 games played.
The Flyers just snuck into the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2009-10 thanks to a shootout victory over the New York Rangers in the season finale. But they shocked the No. 2 seed New Jersey Devils in five games and then overcame a 3-0 deficit to the Boston Bruins in the second round. By then they were the highest seed left in the conference and beat Montreal to advance to the Stanley Cup finals.
“The regular season last year wasn’t very indicative of the team they were,” said Washington forward Mike Knuble, himself a former Flyer. “They’ve come around. They’re very consistent and have won a lot of games and have some individual guys having great seasons. … There’s no playoff hangover or anything.”
