Flyers at Capitals preview

FLYERS (36-31-8) at CAPITALS (43-24-8)
12:30 p.m. ET; NBC

The Capitals, who have lost two straight games (0-1-1) and are 9-3-1 in their past 13, are one point ahead of the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Flyers, who are 2-4-0 in their past six games after going 6-1-1 in their previous eight, are seven points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Players to watch

Flyers forward Sean Couturier has eight points (three goals, five assists) in a five-game point streak.
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, who leads the NHL with 48 goals, needs two to become the third player in NHL history with at least eight 50-goal seasons, behind Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy (nine each).

They said it

"I'm sure it's weighing on the players, knowing how time is winding down here, seven games left. Obviously, we aren't in a position, never mind a losing streak, but to lose more than a game. That's where we're at right now." -- Flyers coach Scott Gordon
"We just came out of three (games) in four (days), so (the) energy level is not at a real high point right now, so today was about getting some good feeling back with our group and executing properly. Some detail and some drills. It's one of those things we need to add back into [our game tomorrow]. -- Capitals coach Todd Reirden after practice Saturday

Flyers projected lineup

Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk -- Nolan Patrick -- Claude Giroux
Michael Raffl -- Scott Laughton -- Travis Konecny
Phil Varone -- Corban Knight -- Ryan Hartman
Ivan Provorov -- Travis Sanheim
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Philippe Myers
Robert Hagg -- Radko Gudas
Brian Elliott
Carter Hart
Scratched: Cam Talbot, Andrew MacDonald, Justin Bailey, Samuel Morin
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body)

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson
Carl Hagelin -- Lars Eller -- T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana - Travis Boyd -- Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky -- Nic Dowd -- Chandler Stephenson
Christian Djoos -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- Nick Jensen
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched:Dmitrij Jaskin, Evgeny Kuznetsov
Injured: Michal Kempny (lower body)

Status report

Kuznetsov (illness) missed practice Saturday and his status is uncertain. … Hagelin practiced after missing the 2-1 home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Friday (illness). … The Capitals recalled defenseman Tyler Lewington from Hershey of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Giroux has seven assists in a five-game point streak. … Connolly has seven points (four goals, three assists) in his past five games. … Ovechkin is one goal from tying Brendan Shanahan (656) for 13th in NHL history, and one power-play goal from passing Phil Esposito (246) and tying Luc Robitaille (247) for fourth.