John Carlson will not play for the Washington Capitals in their Stanley Cup Qualifiers round-robin game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Thursday.
The defenseman did not play in Washington's first game in the round-robin, a 3-2 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday in Toronto, the hub city for the Eastern Conference. He left in the third period of a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes in an exhibition game July 29.
As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.
Brian Elliott will start in goal for the Flyers, who defeated the Boston Bruins 4-1 on Sunday in their first game of the round-robin. He was 16-7-4 with a 2.87 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage in 31 games (27 starts) this season, including 2-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .926 save percentage against the Capitals, and allowed one goal on 14 shots in the third period and overtime in a 3-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins in an exhibition game July 28.
The round-robin will set the top four seeds in the East for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Here are 3 keys for the round-robin game:
1. More from van Riemsdyk
James van Riemsdyk had one shot on goal in 10:42 of ice time playing left wing on the third line against the Bruins. He split time at left wing on the fourth line with Connor Bunnaman at practice Wednesday.
"I thought that James in training camp, in our first phase in Philly, looked extremely good," coach Alain Vigneault said Monday. "Thought he was skating well, thought he was making some good plays with the puck. So far since we've gotten here to Toronto in our two games, I'm expecting more. We'll see here what happens moving forward."
2. Capitals getting engaged physically
The Capitals felt they turned the momentum in their favor against the Lightning when they increased their physical play during the second period.
Behind 2-0, the Capitals tied the game with goals from the crease by Richard Panik and Evgeny Kuznetsov in the final 2:36 of the second.
"You saw as the game went on we started to tilt the ice in our favor with a little more physical play," coach Todd Reirden said. "You saw us spend a lot more time in the offensive zone and hang on to pucks and be difficult to check, and that allowed us to have more success as the game went on and eventually come from behind and tie that game up."
3. Flyers penalty kill vs. Capitals power play
The Flyers were 11th in the NHL on the penalty kill this season at 81.8 percent and went 3-for-3 against the Bruins.
"In the two games that we've played, I've been able to almost throw four [forward] duos out there," Vigneault said. "When you're able to throw 3-4 duos on a two-minute penalty, it means you're not spending a lot of time in your end, it means you're playing fast, you're putting a lot of pressure on the opposition, you're not giving the other team a lot of zone time. That's what we've been able to do.
"Boston was a big test with their great power play and their great players. Tomorrow, we've got another big opponent with a big weapon on the power play (Alex Ovechkin). Hopefully, I'll be able to get those duos out there and they can all be effective."
The Capitals went 1-for-4 on the power play against the Lightning.
Eller left the Capitals on Wednesday to be with his wife for the birth of their second child. ... Raffl won't play after the forward was injured against Boston.
