Preview: Capitals at Flyers

CAPITALS (39-12-7) at FLYERS (28-24-7)
8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA Sports, NHL.TV

Capitals team scope

The Washington Capitals have lost two straight games (0-1-1) and look to avoid losing three straight for the first time since Nov. 26-Dec. 3. Remaining disciplined against the Philadelphia Flyers will be important; the Flyers are tied for second in the League with 43 power-play goals, although they rank 28th with 87 goals at 5-on-5. "Every time we play these guys it seems like an emotional, hard game," forward Tom Wilson said. "We have a bit of a rivalry and tensions get high. We have to stay focused, stay disciplined, and if we can stay out of the box that'll help us a lot because they have some pretty skilled players. When the [penalty kill] gets out hopefully we do the job and get it done." Coach Barry Trotz hopes the Capitals get off to a better start than they have in their previous two games. "The other four periods the past two games I didn't mind," Trotz said. "The games kept ramping up and we limited chances, got some scoring chances. I'd like to fix the first periods from the past two games. And a little more snipe. Our shooting percentage went down a little bit the past couple games. Hopefully with more touches, more practice time we'll be able to get this corrected."

Flyers team scope

The Flyers look to score at least three goals for the third straight game Wednesday, something they haven't done since they scored at least three in six straight from Dec. 1-10. "The key to tonight's game is going to be the less turnovers we have the better off we can be," forward Brayden Schenn said. "Washington can score goals pretty much at will, everyone's doing it for them. We know we have our hands full tonight. We've got to be ready for a good start." Coach Dave Hakstol said Philadelphia didn't do anything different offensively in a 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and a 3-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. They had seven goals in their previous six games. "Puck went in the net," he said. "[Wayne Simmonds] scored a great power-play goal at net front [against the Canucks]. We did the same things we've been doing. Going into that game and over the past week, we've got to be a little more tenacious in some of the tougher, harder areas and we'll continue to try to do that."

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Marcus Johansson -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Justin Williams
Brett Connolly -- Lars Eller -- Zach Sanford
Daniel Winnik -- Jay Beagle -- Tom Wilson
Karl Alzner - - John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov - - Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik - - Taylor Chorney
Braden Holtby
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched:Nate Schmidt, Travis Boyd
Injured:Andre Burakovsky (hand)

Flyers projected lineup

Brayden Schenn -- Claude Giroux -- Wayne Simmonds
Dale Weise -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
Michael Raffl -- Nick Cousins -- Matt Read
Chris VandeVelde -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Roman Lyubimov
Ivan Provorov -- Andrew MacDonald
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Mark Streit
Brandon Manning -- Radko Gudas
Michal Neuvirth
Steve Mason
Scratched:Nick Schultz, Michael Del Zotto
Injured:Travis Konecny (lower body), Jordan Weal (upper body)

Status report

Chorney will replace Schmidt in the lineup. It will be his first game since Jan. 26. … Neuvirth will start in goal for the fifth straight game. ... Weal practiced for the second straight day but Hakstol said he's not ready to return. ... MacDonald, a healthy scratch Sunday, did not take part in the optional morning skate Wednesday although Del Zotto and Schultz did, meaning it's likely MacDonald will play.

Who's hot

Oshie has five goals and four assists in his past eight games. ... Ovechkin has five goals and four assists in his past 10 games. … Schenn has two goals and one assist in his past two games. ... Simmonds has four goals in his past five games.