Capitals at Flyers preview

CAPITALS (38-21-7) at FLYERS (32-26-8)
7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS

Washington will be trying for its fifth consecutive victory. The Capitals are even in points with the New York Islanders for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
The Flyers, who have won back-to-back games, are 4-0-1 in their past five games and 16-3-2 in their past 21. They are seven points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Flyers forward Nolan Patrick will be a game-time decision. The 20-year-old left Philadelphia's 4-1 win against the Islanders on Sunday in the first period after he was hit in the side of the head by a shot. Patrick took part in the optional morning skate.

Players to watch

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin has 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in his past nine games, and is three points from 1,200 in the NHL. He would be the 49th player in League history to reach that milestone and the third active player, along with forward Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks (1,465) and center Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (1,202).
Flyers forward Claude Giroux has two goals and seven assists during a five-game point streak.

They said it

"I feel like it's going to be a little like the Islanders game (a 3-1 win Friday), where both teams are playing similar systems. It's really who's going to give up the most to the other team, who's going to make that mistake. They're hot, they're feeling it right now. We're playing pretty good hockey. Should make for a pretty good game." -- Capitals forward T.J. Oshie
"Not much I can say, but we'll know more come the afternoon. I felt pretty good. Obviously morning skate is a lot different than a game would be. But we'll know closer to the game." -- Flyers forward Nolan Patrick

Capitals projected lineup

Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson
Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie
Carl Hagelin -- Lars Eller -- Brett Connolly
Andre Burakovsky -- Nic Dowd -- Travis Boyd
Michal Kempny -- John Carlson
Dmitry Orlov -- Matt Niskanen
Brooks Orpik -- Nick Jensen
Braden Holtby
Pheonix Copley
Scratched:Dmitrij Jaskin, Chandler Stephenson, Christian Djoos
Injured:None

Flyers projected lineup

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

Status report

The Capitals plan to dress the same lineup for the fourth straight game. ...If Patrick can't play, the Flyers will use 11 forwards and seven defensemen, with MacDonald the seventh defenseman. Hart, who will miss his sixth straight game, took part in the optional morning skate. ... Voracek could practice Friday.

Stat pack

Holtby is one win from 250 in the NHL. If he reaches that milestone Wednesday, in his 409th game, he would do it in the second-fewest games, after Ken Dryden (381). ... Couturier has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past 10 games.