Facing Philly - The Caps are back in action on Thursday afternoon in Toronto, facing the Philadelphia Flyers in the middle match of round robin play ahead of the start of next week's commencement of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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

Times Are Strange - Playoff hockey in August? It's happening. Three-on-three overtime and the shootout? Yes, those are happening as well, at least in the round robin contests in the NHL's return to play. The Caps and the Tampa Bay Lightning made history on Monday afternoon, engaging in the first ever NHL postseason game to be decided in a shootout. The Lightning prevailed 3-2 in the skills competition.

On Monday afternoon in Toronto, the Caps and the Tampa Bay Lightning hooked up in one of the more oxymoronic games in NHL history. It was a playoff game, because the league said it was and because there was a great deal of intensity and physicality through most of the contest. But after the first five-minute, 3-on-3 overtime in "playoff" history, the game ended with the ignominy of a shootout, an element that most fans of the game want no part of come playoff time.

21 Jump Street - For the first time in exactly 21 weeks, the Caps are back in action on Monday afternoon, playing a "meaningful" hockey game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. But the word "meaningful" is s relative term in this case.

August 3 at Tampa Bay Lightning at Scotiabank Arena

Time: 4:00 p.m.

TV: NBCSW, NBCSN

Radio: Capitals Radio 24/7, 106.7 FAN

Washington Capitals 41-20-8 (90 points)

Tampa Bay Lightning 43-21-6 (92 points)

Bubble Hockey - The Caps got their first taste of bubble hockey on Wednesday - and their first taste of hockey against another NHL opponent in more than four and a half months - when they skated to a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in an exhibition game in Toronto.

Over the final several weeks of the 2019-20 NHL regular season, few players on the planet were as hot as Alex Ovechkin. On Wednesday in Toronto, the Caps' captain picked up where he left off, scoring twice and assisting on another goal in Washington's 3-2 exhibition win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

Late July Hockey - It doesn't count for anything standings wise, and any stats accrued won't find their way to the back of anyone's hockey card. But the Caps will be back on the ice on Wednesday afternoon in Toronto, taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in an exhibition game leading up to a modified and delayed NHL postseason.

July 26, 2020 vs. Carolina Hurricanes at ScotiaBank Arena in Toronto

Time: 4 p.m.

TV: NBCSW

Radio: 1500 AM