Rick Tocchet's Philadelphia Flyers (29-23-11) are home on Wednesday to host Spencer Carbery's Washington Capitals (32-26-7) in a nationally televised game. The Flyers and Capitals are 1-1-0 against each other over their first two meetings of their four-game season series in 2025-26.
Game time at Xfinity Mobile Arena is 7:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on TNT, TruTV and HBO Max.
The Flyers have 19 games remaining in their schedule: nine at home and 10 on the road. On Monday, Philly suffered a 6-2 home loss at the hands of the New York Rangers. Forwards Matvei Michkov and Sean Couturier each lit the lamp in a losing cause.
The Capitals enter this game coming off a 7-3 home win against the Calgary Flames. Washington saw a 3-0 lead slip away and coughed up back-to-back shorthanded goals in the second period. However, Washington recovered and went on to pull away to a comfortable win. Wednesday marks the start of a road back-to-back set. After playing the Flyers in Philadelphia, Carbery's club heads to New York State to oppose the Buffalo Sabres.
For the Flyers, Wednesday's match is the second of a three-game homestand. The team had an off day on Tuesday.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch against the Capitals.
1. Konecny's impact
Flyers leading scorer Travis Konecny (23 goals, 34 assists, 57 points) returned to the lineup on Monday after missing three games with an upper body injury. With the team struggling to create and finish chances, they need Konecny to be an offensive catalyst. On Monday, he skated 19:04 across 24 shifts, generating two shots on goal on three shot attempts.
2. Special teams reset
The Flyers were in a good penalty killing groove after the Olympic break until Monday's game against the Rangers. New York went 3-for-4 on the power play. The Michkov goal was the only bright spot for Philly's own power play. The Flyers enter Wednesday's game ranked in a tie for 30th in the NHL at a 16.0 percent success rate.
3. Traffic at the net
For a portion of the second period on Monday, the Flyers started to find success in attacking the middle of the ice and generating traffic. Finishing chances was another story. Nevertheless, that segment of the game is the process the Flyers need to execute to have success against the Capitals and other opponents. There have been too many one-and-done forays into the offensive zone this season and perimeter shots that either don't make it on net or are routine saves for opposing goalies.
4. Ovi watch
If future Hall of Famer Alex Ovechkin retires from the NHL after this season, Wednesday's game will be his final trip to Philadelphia in his storied career. Over the course of his NHL career, Ovechkin has notched 52 goals and 83 points in 80 regular season games against the Flyers.
