Caps Face Flyers in Round-Robin Tilt

August 6 at Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Arena

Time: 4:00 p.m.

TV: NBCSW

Radio: Capitals Radio 24/7, 106.7 FAN

Washington Capitals 0-0-1

Philadelphia Flyers 1-0-0

The Caps play the middle match of a trio of round robin contests on Thursday afternoon against the Philadelphia Flyers. Washington opened round robin play on Monday with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning while the Flyers earned a 4-1 victory over the Boston Bruins in their prior round robin game on Sunday.

Going into Thursday's game, Philadelphia ranks second in round robin play with two points while Washington is third with a single point. Tampa Bay rules the roost with four points while Boston is pointless to date. The Caps will conclude round robin play against the Bruins on Sunday, but they're looking to hop over the Flyers first.

"Philly is always a big rival of ours," says Caps right wing Tom Wilson. "I think it's one of those rivals that whether it's a week or four months or whatever, you know you're going to have to show up and you know it's going to be a tough game. We're ready for it, and we're excited to get back after it."

Thursday's game should be a strong indicator of where the Caps' collective game is heading into next week's first round series against as-yet-to-be-determined opponent. In four regular season meetings against the Flyers, the Caps managed only a 2-1 shootout win back in November; they lost each of the last three and lost both home games in lopsided fashion to Philadelphia. Washington didn't score more than two goals in any of the four games and was outscored by a combined 16-7 in the season's series. The Flyers scored five power-play goals against a strong Caps penalty killing outfit, and Washington went 1-for-17 with the extra man against the Flyers.

Washington's last home game of the regular season was a 5-2 loss to the Flyers on March 3.

"You take a look at it," says Caps coach Todd Reirden of the regular season series against Philadelphia. "In the four months off, you take a look at the teams you struggled against. With the return to play, you take a look at their exhibition game against [Pittsburgh], and we take a look at their [round-robin] game the other day against Boston. We evaluate it, we scout it, and we look at how they're playing. Before the pause, they were one of the hottest teams in the league, and right behind us in the division. We know they play well; they're a good team and they'll be a good challenge for us. For us, it's about growing our game and making sure that we're doing everything to prepare ourselves for round one, Game 1."

Washington will be without center Lars Eller for Thursday's game, and for a bit beyond that as well. Eller returned to the District on Wednesday to join his wife, who is about to give birth to their second child. Travis Boyd is expected to step into Eller's third-line pivot spot between Carl Hagelin and Ilya Kovalchuk. Eller will need to quarantine for four days and have a string of four straight days of negative COVID tests before he is permitted to rejoin his teammates on the ice.

In the meantime, they'll try to put their best foot forward against a Philadelphia team that took a significant leap forward this season with some on-ice personnel tweaks and wholesale coaching changes, including the installation of Alain Vigneault as the team's head coach. Vigneault is one of three finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach.

"I think the coaching change did a lot for them," says Caps center Nicklas Backstrom, "but at the same time all their young players developed and they got better. At the same time, they're so good defensively, too. I think that's what the coach brought in. It's a combination of everything, but as of this year they played great hockey. It's good for them, but hopefully we can bring our 'A' game [Thursday] too."

"I don't pay too much attention to that," says Wilson, asked about Philly's improvement this season. "I go out there, I see the orange and black, and it feels the same, it feels like a rivalry. They've got a core group that's been there for a while that has confidence that always plays a skilled style with some grit. But every group each year is a little bit different. You come up with a specific game plan to play against that specific group, and that's no different. We're focusing in on ways to have success. When you're playing a rival - even in a play-in round - you know you might run into them down the stretch. So we want to be ready, we want to play the right way, and just go out there and play hard because it seems like those Metro games are always skilled and hard."

Vigneault won the Jack Adams Award with Vancouver in 2006-07, his first season with the Canucks. In his first season as head coach of the New York Rangers in 2013-14, the Blueshirts returned to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 20 years, a feat he is seeking to repeat with the Flyers this year.

If he wins the Adams this year, Vigneault would become the seventh coach in League history to win the Award with two different teams.

"All our games against Washington, we've come to play and they've come to play," says Vigneault. "They've all been tight - from recollection - and all of them have had good scoring chances at both ends of the rink. You've got some real skilled players on both teams.

"What I've liked about our games against them is they've been physical; there has been a lot of contact. We haven't shied away from it, we've just played and we've played hard. It's been great hockey and that's what I except [Thursday]. They're excited about tomorrow's game and we're excited. It should be a real fun one."

Washington and Philadelphia are two of the seven Metropolitan Division teams in the NHL's bubble field of 24, though the New York Rangers have departed the scene. The Blueshirts lost three games in four nights to Carolina and they'll head back to Manhattan to await the outcome of the Alexis Lafreniere lottery, a sweepstakes in which they have a 12.5% chance of emerging with the prized Quebec League prospect.