Caps-Flyers Pre-game Notes

Just a few notes before the Capitals clash with their old Patrick Division rival the Philadelphia Flyers. The Capitals won the previous meeting at Verizon Center this season, 4-2, back on October 27. Washington erased a 2-0 second period deficit as Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom tallied at the end of the second period, and Alexander Semin scored early in the third period to give the Capitals the lead for good.

The most recent meeting between the teams was on December 5 in Philadelphia where the Capitals beat the Flyers, 8-2, in Peter Laviolette's first game behind the Flyers bench.

Flyers goalie Ray Emery was pulled with 9:46 to go in the second period of that contest after allowing 5 goals in the Capitals' first 17 shots, will be making his first start this afternoon since that dreadful night. Emergy has been out since then after it was revealed he had been playing with a torn abdominal muscle.

The other interesting story line to follow is what happens between Matt Bradley and Flyers forward Daniel Carcillo. Carcillo was ejected with 5:27 remaining in the first period after sucker punching Capitals forward Matt Bradley after Bradley cleanly checked Carcillo in front of the penalty box.

Carcillo was assessed a five-minute fighting major, a two-minute minor for instigating, two-minutes for cross-checking and a 10 minute game misconduct penalty.

The Capitals scored three times on the ensuing nine-minute power play to grab a 4-1 lead which they never came close to relinguishing.


NOTE OF THE NIGHT
Six shooters –Washington has scored at least six goals in a game eight times this year, including Friday vs. Toronto, after doing so five times all of last season. The Capitals have scored at least six goals twice in the last four games and did so in their last meeting against Philadelphia (8-2, Dec. 5).
FIVE MORE NOTES NO MEDIA PERSON SHOULD BE WITHOUT
Ovi elevates –Alex Ovechkin had his fourth career five-point game Friday night to give him 62 points on the season, within two of the NHL lead (entering Saturday’s games). Three of Ovechkin’s five-point games have come against Canadian teams (Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Boston). Ovechkin has 32 points (12g-20a) in 18 games since returning from suspension and has a five-game point streak (3g-9a, +8 in that time). Ovechkin leads the league in goals per game, points per game and shots and leads all forwards at +26.
Double trouble –The Capitals (33 multiple-goal games) and Flyers (23) are the only teams in the NHL whose players have combined for more than 18 multiple-goal games (entering Saturday’s games). In fact, Capitals players have scored two goals in a period 15 times; 23 teams have fewer multiple-goal games than that.
Despite their success with multiple-goal games the Capitals do not have a hat trick this season.
30-15 club –Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin are two of four players in the league with 15-plus assists and 30-plus goals (entering Saturday’s games). Henrik Sedin and Patrick Kane are the others.
Positive thinking –Defenseman Jeff Schultz leads the NHL with a +27 rating, including a +12 mark in the last six games. Schultz was +25 the past two seasons combined. He also has assists in three of the last five games (4a in that time) and leads the team with 66 blocked shots.
The Capitals boast four of the top nine NHLers in plus/minus, with Alex Ovechkin (2nd, +26), Mike Green (tied for 4th, +20) and Nicklas Backstrom (tied for 7th, +19) entering Saturday’s games.
Goal oriented –Washington has scored 31 goals in its last six games (5.17 per game, not counting a shootout goal), including tying a season high with eight goals last Saturday night. Eleven players have scored goals in the last six games. The Capitals’ league-leading 3.68 goals per game are 0.41 more than the next-closest team (Chicago, 3.27). Washington has never led the league in scoring for a season (best was second in 1991-92).