1. A DATE IN DC
The Flyers play the defending Stanley Cup Champions for the first time this season - game #43 and the Caps are the last team in the Metropolitan Division the Flyers have yet to face... After today, they play the Caps three times to finish off the season series in a 19-day span in March (Mar. 6, 14 & 24)... In last year's season series, the Flyers earned wins in three of the four meetings... Four of the last six, as well as 11 of the last 15 meetings in DC have all been decided by one goal, including seven games past regulation play.
2. BEASTS AGAINST THE EAST
While the Flyers finished a three-game homestand, Washington returns home after a three-game road trip after a 3-2 win at Detroit on Sunday... The win snapped a three-game losing skid for the Capitals, which was their longest skid in nearly a year (Jan. 18-21, 2018)... Despite that, the Caps have had much of their success in the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference - they own a 6-1-0 record in their last seven games against the Metro and an even better mark of 14-1-0 in their last 15 games against the East.
3. POWER OUTAGE
The Caps own the NHL's third-best power play on home ice at 27.4 percent, but have not scored on the man advantage in their last five games (0-for-11), while also going just 1-for-31 in their last 10 contests... The Flyers have scored a goal on the man advantage in three straight games in which they have had three opportunities or more... The Flyers have also scored just one power-play goal against the Capitals in their last eight meetings with the Caps killing off 23 of the last 24 Flyers power plays.
4. US, THEM, US & THEM
US: The Flyers own the best faceoff percentage in the NHL, operating at 56.4 percent and have three players at 59 percent or better - Giroux (60.4), Weal (59.7) and Laughton (59.6) ... THEM:The Capitals rank second in the NHL for most goals in the second period (58), but rank 28th in the league third-period goals (35)... US & THEM: Tonight's game features the two best players in the NHL assists department since the 2010-11 season - Claude Giroux leads all players with 447 helpers and Nicklas Backstrom ranks second with 435 assists.
5. PLAYERS TO WATCH:
FLYERS (LW: #28 - Claude Giroux)
Giroux has led the Flyers in bounce-back games this season - he has seven points (2g-5a) in the five games after the team has been shut out... Giroux also averages a point per-game against the Caps in his career, recording 37 points (18g-19a) in 37 outings and his 18 goals are the most goals against any other team in his career.
CAPITALS (LW: #8 - Alex Ovechkin)
Ovechkin's the NHL's only 30-goal scorer, and in doing so this year, he has posted 30+ goals in each of his 14 seasons in the NHL becoming only the second player in NHL history to do so (Mike Gartner)... Despite that, Ovechkin has just one goal in his last nine games after posting 29 goals in 32 games to begin the season... This will be Ovechkin's 50th career game against the Flyers - he has 33 goals and 55 points in the previous 49.
