Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Washington Capitals (18-12-3, 39 points) and Philadelphia Flyers (14-15-4, 32 points) faceoff live from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia in the third of five meetings against each other this season. The game can be live streamed here. Washington fans can hear all of the action on WFED 1500 while Philadelphia fans can do the same on 97.5 The Fanatic.
Washington will look to sweep a home-and-home and beat Philadelphia for the third time this season while the Flyers try to avoid getting beaten by the Capitals for the second time in three nights. The Caps beats the Flyers 7-0 on Nov. 1 in Philadelphia before notching a 5-4 shootout victory over them on Sunday in D.C.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 27th goal of the season on Sunday and has added 10 assists for 37 points to lead the Capitals while Nicklas Backstrom has nine points in his last three games and eight goals and 28 assists for 36 points and Mikhail Grabovski has nine markers and 18 helpers for 27 points, though he is sidelined with the flu.
"I try to do my best, but of course I'm not thinking 100 percent all about offense," Ovechkin told the Washington Post. "Sometimes I have to play more carefully in defense, especially when we get the lead because you get the time, five minutes left you can't make mistake out there.
Flyers forward Vincent Lecavalier had a light skate on Monday but isn't any closer to returning after being sidelined with back spasms since Nov. 22.
"He's able to do some rehabilitation, but until the spasm goes away completely he's kind of limited in what he can do," general manager Paul Holmgren said per NHL.com. "The spasms have gotten smaller. They're more around the fracture side now. Until that goes away completely he's sort of limited."
The Flyers have been led by Claude Giroux, who has five points in his last three games for a total of 25 points off of seven goals and 18 assists while Brayden Schenn (seven goals, 11 assists) and Steve Downie (three goals, 15 assists) each have 18 points.
Washington coach Adam Oates told NHL.com he wasn't sure which goalie he'd go with tonight, but it's likely that Braden Holtby will start. Holtby is 13-9-1 with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage. Philadelphia is likely to go with Steve Mason, who is 11-9-4 with a 2.35 GAA and a .924 save percentage.
The Capitals aim to beat their opponents for the third time in three tries this season while the Flyers look to avoid being swept out of the home-and-home when the teams faceoff tonight in Philadelphia.
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