Flyers eager for quick shot at redemption

Tuesday, 12.17.2013 / 6:00 PM

By Adam Kimelman - NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor / 2013-2014 At the Rink Blog

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PHILADELPHIA -- Just 48 hours earlier, Philadelphia Flyers coach Craig Berube watched his team blow a 4-1 lead in the final 8:40 of the third period against the Washington Capitals en route to a 5-4 shootout loss.

Rather than sit and stew too long on that game Sunday at Verizon Center, Berube said he was happy to be back at it against the Capitals again Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, TSN).

“It’s always good to get back right away and play,” Berube said. “I know the guys are hungry to get back and play.”

Upon a second viewing of the game, Berube said the problems in the third period was more of what his team didn’t do rather than what the Capitals did to them.

“I didn’t think there was a whole lot wrong [with the third period],” Berube said. “We weren’t under siege or under pressure. I thought that we stopped making some plays and plays were there to be made that would have put us down in their end and put some more pressure on them but we didn’t do that.”

Berube said his lineup from Sunday will remain the same, which includes starting Steve Mason in goal after he allowed four goals on 33 shots. After a strong start to the season, Mason is 1-1-2 in his past five games (four starts), allowing 14 goals on 119 shots (.882 save percentage).

“We had a plan,” Berube said. “It was Steve all along.”

In the opposite net will be Braden Holtby for the Capitals. It will be Holtby’s first game since Dec. 10, when he was pulled from a start against the Tampa Bay Lightning after allowing three goals on eight shots in the first 11:07 of the game. Rookie Philipp Grubauer has started the past two games, with one win and a shootout loss.

Holtby has been pulled from two of his past three starts, and hasn’t started and finished a game since Dec. 7.

“It’s been too long,” Capitals coach Adam Oates said. “He’s had a chance to regroup a little bit and we expect a great game.”

While Holtby will be back in, Mikhail Grabovski will miss a second straight game due to the flu. He remained home with the team when it traveled to Philadelphia on Monday.

With Grabovski out and Michael Latta sustaining a lower-body injury Sunday, the Capitals recalled center Casey Wellman from Hershey of the American Hockey League. To make room, the Capitals placed Latta on injured reserve.

Wellman has seven goals and six assists in 23 AHL games this season. He has 41 games of NHL experience in parts of three seasons with the Minnesota Wild, but his most recent game was Jan. 19, 2012.

“I just need to make sure that I’m real structured because if you make a mistake here it’s capitalized on,” Wellman told the Washington Post. “I’ve just got to make sure I’m structured, focused and ready to go.”

Here are the projected lineups for each team:

CAPITALS

Marcus Johansson - Nicklas Backstrom - Alex Ovechkin

Eric Fehr - Martin Erat - Troy Brouwer

Jason Chimera - Jay Beagle - Joel Ward

Aaron Volpatti - Casey Wellman - Tom Wilson

Karl Alzner - John Carlson

Dmitry Orlov - Mike Green

John Erskine - Steve Oleksy

Braden Holtby

Philipp Grubauer

Injured: Jack Hillen (leg), Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Brooks Laich (groin), Mikhail Grabovski (flu), Michael Latta (lower body)