Pluses, minuses for Capitals, Flyers

Each Wednesday throughout the regular season, Kevin Weekes will be offering his pluses and minuses for the teams competing in the NBCSN Wednesday Night Rivalry game in his Weekes on the Web blog. Weekes also will assist fans with three must-watch elements of the game.
When the Washington Capitals and Philadelphia Flyers meet, the games tend to be pretty intense. The Capitals are coming off of a 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday that ended a six-game winning streak. The Flyers have lost two straight following a 10-game winning streak.

This is the first of four games this season between the Metropolitan Division rivals, who occupy the two wild card sports in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have played four more games than the Capitals, but these two points will be critical for each team.
The Capitals (19-8-3) travel to Wells Fargo Center to face the Flyers (19-11-4) on Wednesday (8 p.m. E.T; NBCSN, NHL.TV). Here's my breakdown of the game:

Capitals

Pluses: Washington struggled early on, but has been playing better hockey lately. It's why the Capitals had that winning streak. The offense isn't as explosive as last season when they were one of the top scoring teams in the League (they're middle of the pack this season), but they've still managed to lock in defensively to win some low-scoring games.
Alex Ovechkin hasn't put up eye-popping numbers, but he's been very good, and has 14 goals. Marcus Johansson has been consistent with 12 goals and 22 points. And we can't forget Nicklas Backstrom, who leads them in points (27, including nine goals).
Braden Holtby, last season's Vezina Trophy winner, hasn't been getting as much love as some other goalies (Tuukka Rask, Carey Price, Devan Dubnyk), but he's 14-7-2 with a 2.08 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. He hasn't been as dominant as last season but he gives them a chance to win every night.

Minuses: Washington has 57 points from defensemen this season but only six goals. Matt Niskanen and Karl Alzner have two apiece, and John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov each have one. They have guys who are capable of scoring goals on the blue line, especially Orlov. I really like his offensive game, plus he had eight goals last season.
There's been a little bit of a mental lapse for them. Everything about them is making the playoffs and winning the Stanley Cup. But they have to get to the playoffs first. They're not steamrolling through the League like they did last season.
Lastly, Evgeny Kuznetsov who led them in points last season (77, including 20 goals) has three goals and 17 points in 30 games. He does have eight assists in the past seven games, so maybe he's starting to turn it around, but Kuznetsov hasn't scored a goal in 12 games. He's definitely not playing to the level he can and showed last season when he was an integral part of the Capitals' success.

Flyers

Pluses: Overall, their stars have been stars this season. Jakub Voracek has rebounded from a poor season to lead the Flyers in points (34), Claude Giroux has 30 and Wayne Simmonds has 29. They're all playing like All-Stars and haven't had a drop-off all season.
Steve Mason has played very well, and he's been even better since Michael Neuvirth went down with an injury. Mason won eight straight before losing his past two and has allowed two goals or fewer in eight of those games. It's been his crease and he's defending it well after he and Neuvirth each struggled early on in the season.
Defense has been the Achilles' heel in their organization until recently. Shayne Gostisbehere had 46 points in 64 games and was a Calder Trophy finalist during his rookie season, but has struggled with 16 points in 32 games this season. But now, there's not just one defenseman back there. Ivan Provorov has started to pick it up offensively but has been very good defensively for them. Now I know why they were trying to get him up there last season after Lehigh Valley lost in the American Hockey League Playoffs. Brandon Manning has been better both offensively and defensively.

Minuses: The Flyers have a good power play (22.8 percent), and it isn't hard to see why with all the talent they have. However, they are 0-for-11 with the man advantage in their past four games. The power play has won them a lot of games and they may need one or two to beat the Capitals.
Philadelphia has gotten better, but the Flyers are still allowing almost three goals per game. As mentioned earlier, Mason has been outstanding, but it's not fair for them to rely on him every game.
The final thing they could work on is their third periods. The Flyers have allowed 38 goals in the third, which was tied for second-most in the League prior to games Tuesday. They need to clamp down more when it matters.

THREE THINGS TO WATCH

1. How physical will the game be?
   2. Who will win the special-teams matchup?
   3. Will any defensive pairing Washington puts out be able to deal with Simmonds' net-front presence?