Flyers at Capitals

The Washington Capitals have not been the same team since enjoying their bye week and hope to get back on track when they host the red-hot Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday afternoon. The Capitals won six of seven games through Jan. 12 but lost in overtime at New Jersey six days later, and coach Barry Trotz told reporters after a 3-2 home loss to Montreal on Friday that too many guys were “still on vacation.”

“Today, I just didn’t think we had enough guys putting in the real full day’s work,” Trotz said after the setback. “Like I said, too much cheat and not enough compete in a lot of areas.” Washington still leads the Metropolitan Division with 60 points and is 18-7-0 on home ice as it prepares to take on the Flyers, who rolled to an 8-2 victory over the Capitals on Oct. 14. Philadelphia has won six of its last seven games after registering a 3-1 victory over New Jersey on Saturday to move within one point of the final playoff position in the Eastern Conference. “Every time we play a Metropolitan team, we look at it as a four-point game,” Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere told Philly.com. “The biggest thing for us is to be ready for these games. We can’t, you know, lay an egg. We just have to play with confidence.”

TV: 12:30 p.m. ET, NBC, TVA

ABOUT THE FLYERS (22-16-8): Former first-round pick Travis Konecny has recorded three goals and six assists in his last 10 games, with most of the points coming after joining captain Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier on the top line. “I haven’t noticed (Konecny) being more confident, but I think he’s more visible when he gets the puck, when he’s hitting those holes and getting into space,” coach Dave Hakstol told reporters. “Having the opportunity to play with two good veterans has been good for him.” Giroux notched an assist Saturday to push his team-leading total to 55 points.

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (28-15-4): Lars Eller has scored five of his 10 goals over the last six games, including a tally with less than a minute to go on Friday that gave Washington a chance. Captain Alex Ovechkin recorded an assist in the loss to give him 13 points in his last nine games and a team-leading 50 on the season - including 28 goals, which led the league entering the weekend. Defenseman John Carlson posted Washington’s other goal on Friday on the power play for his ninth point in the last nine games and 36th on the season, putting him fourth on the team.

OVERTIME

1. Philadelphia D Ivan Provorov scored his career-high ninth goal of the season Saturday and has recorded four in his last seven games.

2. Washington G Braden Holtby (24-9-1, .916 save percentage), who is expected back in net after being rested on Friday, is 8-4-7 lifetime versus the Flyers.

3. Flyers G Michal Neuvirth registered his 100th career victory on Saturday but likely will be rested against the Capitals in favor of Brian Elliott (17-11-7, .906 save percentage).
Poll

Who will win this game?

Odds
SpreadMoneylineMoneyTotal
Washington CapitalsCapitals-1 12  825-134
4.50
o -110u -130
Philadelphia FlyersFlyers+1 12  -1786-106
Moneyline Consensus: Washington Capitals: 0%     Philadelphia Flyers: 0%
Vegas Prediction: Washington: 3 (Win)    Philadelphia: 2 (Loss)
Season Series
WashingtonStatsPhiladelphia
1-2-1Vs3-1-0
11Goals19
10.6Shot %15.2
27.3Power Play %11.1
47.9Faceoff %52.1