Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (37-24-12) are in DC on Tuesday to take on Spencer Carbery's Washington Capitals (37-28-9). The Flyers are on an eight-game winning streak on the road and three-game overall winning streak.
Game time at Capital One Arena is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
Tuesday's tilt marks the fourth and final game of the season series between the Metropolitan Division rivals. The Flyers are 2-1-0 so far against Washington: 4-2 home win (Feb. 3), 3-1 road loss (Feb. 25), and 4-1 home win (March 11).
Entering play on Tuesday, the Flyers are three points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the Metro. The Islanders still have a tiebreaker advantage over the Flyers by virtue of 28 regulation wins to Philly's 23. The Flyers, however, have played two fewer games than the Islanders. That means Philadelphia has control of its own destiny over the final nine games. The Flyers are four points plus a 30-23 regulation wins tiebreaker disadvantage behind the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins. The top three finishers in each division earn automatic playoff spots.
In the Eastern Conference wildcard race, the Flyers are two points plus a 27-23 regulation wins tiebreaker behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the lower wildcard spot. The Flyers, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings are all tied with 86 points. However, both Ottawa (32 to 23) and Detroit (28 to 23) are ahead of the Flyers in the standings via tiebreaker.
The Flyers enter Tuesday's game coming off a stellar performance in Sunday's 2-1 home overtime victory over the Dallas Stars. Travis Konency (26th goal of the season) scored in regulation. Trevor Zegras (23rd) netted the winning goal in sudden death.
Washnington, three points behind the Flyers, has won back-to-back games. On Saturday, the Capitals led by a 3-0 score then trailed 4-3. Dylan Strome (17th) tied the game with a mid third period power play goal. Later, Strome scored the winning goal in the shoot to secure a 5-4 (1-0) victory.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch on Tuesday.
1. Martone's NHL debut?
From his pregame solo "rookie lap" until the final buzzer, Flyers fans everywhere will have their eyes glued to 19-year-old Porter Martone, should he make his National Hockey League debut. Tocchet and the coaching staff will not try to throw too much too soon on the talented power winger. General manager Daniel Briere said that the organization views their immediate plan for Martone's usage more along the lines of how fellow Philadelphia rookies Denver Barkey and Alex Bump have been utilized so far.
However, Martone brings a special pedigree to the NHL. The sixth overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft had a stellar collegiate freshman season at Michigan State. He also captained Team Canada at the World Junior Championships (WJC). Last season, as an 18-year-old, Martone even played in the IIHF World Championships among current and former NHL players. Thus, Martone's NHL arrival has drawn a lot of excitement and anticipation.
Martone is a very confident young man. However, he'll surely have jitters before the game and when he steps on the ice for his professional shift. The stakes are even higher in a must-win game for the Flyers. For Martone, the biggest challenge on Tuesday is to make it feel like any other hockey game after he skates a few shifts, if he is in the lineup. Get involved in a puck battle. Throw a hit if there's one to make. Get a sweat going. It's not about feeling pressure to light up the scoreboard: it's about feeling as comfortable as he can. If he does not play on Tuesday night, Martone is expected to be in the lineup on Thursday at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
2. Replicate process
The Flyers were in the same boat as Dallas on Sunday. Both teams were playing their third game in four nights and the second game of a back-to-back. Philly responded by playing one of their best all-around games of the season. Dallas is one of the NHL's top teams but Philadelphia was the better club in that game.
- The Flyers' checking was close to airtight most of the night.
- Philly outskated their opponent and outworked them on the boards.
- The Flyers' scored a power play goal and held Dallas' lethal power play 0-for-2.
- The Flyers received outstanding goaltending when a big save was needed. Samuel Ersson's late third period PK pad save on the deadly Wyatt Johston (24 power play goals) was one of the highlight reel moments of the season to date.
- Philly stayed patient when there were no plays to make and aggressive when there was an opportunity to attack the middle.
- Leading scorer Konecny and second leading scorer Zegras stepped up in the clutch.
It's easier said than done to check all of these boxes on the same night: it's the definition of a team's "A-plus" game. But if the Flyers can replicate most of these facets again against Washington, they maximize their chances to win.
3. Score first
For much of the season, the Flyers almost habitually gave up the first goal of the game. Philly proved its resiliency in coming back. Nevertheless, it's not a sustainable way to win. During the Flyers' recent winning run, the team has usually been scoring first. Overall, the Flyers have scored first in 24 of the 73 games they've played to date. In those 24 games, the Flyers are 18-5-4. When yielding the first goal, the Flyers are 19-19-8.
The Capitals have scored first 45 times this season: tied for the most in the NHL. Washington is 29-10-6 in those games. When giving up the first goal, the Capitals are 8-18-3.
4. Final game against Ovechkin?
Future Hockey Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin is undecided about whether he will retire from the NHL or play one more season. If the 40-year-old opts to retire after the 2025-26 season, Tuesday's match would be his final game against the Flyers. Ovechkin has historically dominated against Philadelphia, recording 52 goals and 32 assists (84 points) in 81 career regular-season games.
Overall this season, Ovechkin has posted 57 points (29g, 28a) in 74 games. He tops Strome by three points atop the Washington leaderboard.
