Capitals at Flyers
The Washington Capitals will test their mettle without captain Alex Ovechkin when they wrap up a five-game road trip with a visit to the Metropolitan Division rival Philadelphia Flyers on Friday. The reigning Hart Trophy winner is nursing a right shoulder injury and did not travel up Interstate-95 with the team. Ovechkin was injured during the first period of Washington's 3-2 setback against Vancouver on Monday.
While the Capitals have dropped two straight, Philadelphia saw its two-game winning streak come to an end when it yielded three unanswered goals in a 3-2 loss to Anaheim on Tuesday. Matt Read tallied for the third time in as many contests and Vincent Lecavalier continued his torrid stretch by scoring his fourth goal in two games. Steve Mason made 34 saves versus the Ducks but fell for the sixth time in nine decisions despite owning a 2.25 goals-against average this season.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NHLN, CSN Plus (Washington), CSN (Philadelphia)
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (5-7-0): With Ovechkin (team-leading 10 goals, 15 points) sidelined, coach Adam Oates elected to shift Eric Fehr to the team's top line and send Marcus Johansson to the second during Thursday's practice. Fehr has just one goal this season and Johansson is tied with Nicklas Backstrom for the team lead in assists (10). "I think (Ovechkin) has what, 30 percent of our team's goals?" Troy Brouwer told CSNWashington.com. "So anytime you miss a player like that, it's pretty detrimental."
ABOUT THE FLYERS (3-8-0): Philadelphia welcomed back a familiar face on Thursday as the pesky Stevie Downie was acquired from Colorado for Max Talbot. Downie, who was selected by the Flyers with the 29th overall pick of the 2005 draft, collected one goal and six assists in 11 games with the Avalanche. The 26-year-old could replace rookie Michael Raffl and be paired with captain Claude Giroux and Lecavalier on Philadelphia's top line.
OVERTIME
1. Oates left the door open for Ovechkin to potentially play in Saturday's tilt versus Florida.
2. The Flyers won two of three meetings with the Capitals last season, with both victories coming at home.
3. Philadelphia's five power-play goals are just one more than Florida, Vancouver and Anaheim in the bottom tier of the league.