Capitals at Flyers
The Washington Capitals are looking every bit like the team that set a franchise record for wins en route to capturing its second Presidents' Trophy while the Philadelphia Flyers may be running on empty after motoring to the final wild-card spot following a 15-5-3 run. The Capitals aim to complete a sweep of a best-of seven series for the first time in franchise history on Wednesday when they play Game 4 of their first-round series in Philadelphia.
Special teams continue to be the story of the series as Washington scored a staggering five times on the power play in Monday's 6-1 victory in Game 3. The Capitals are 8-for-17 with the man advantage after the first three contests while the Flyers have failed on all 13 of their opportunities. Philadelphia, in fact, has solved Braden Holtby on only two occasions despite unleashing 93 shots on the front-runner for this season's Vezina Trophy. The biggest scare for Holtby may have come during Tuesday's practice as a collision with a teammate initially left him favoring his left leg, but coach Barry Trotz told reporters that the goaltender is expected to be in net for Game 4.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, CSN-DC (Washington), CSN Philadelphia
ABOUT THE CAPITALS: Brooks Orpik has been ruled out of Wednesday's contest by Trotz after the defenseman suffered an upper-body injury on a hit from Philadelphia fourth-liner Ryan White. "We just have to play strong, tough, physical and responsible. I mean, that's what (Orpik) does every time he's out there, so that's how we'll have to do it," blue-liner Karl Alzner said of the group's mindset of playing without Orpik, who missed 41 games this season with a lower-body injury. While Matt Niskanen and John Carlson have logged heavy minutes in the series, fellow defenseman Nate Schmidt is expected to see an uptick in ice time and either Mike Weber or Taylor Chorney will draw in the lineup on Wednesday.
ABOUT THE FLYERS: Philadelphia may be shuffling goaltenders after Steve Mason (0-3-0, .852 save percentage) allowed all six goals on Monday, this on the heels of permitting an unfathomable 101-foot tally in Game 2. "If I get the call I'm going to be ready and I'll try to enjoy it and help my teammates," backup Michal Neuvirth told reporters on Tuesday. The 28-year-old has only played in two games since March 5, but his 18 wins this season were his most since recording 27 with Washington in 2010-11.
OVERTIME
1. Philadelphia F Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will sit out Wednesday's tilt after being suspended one game for his dangerous check from behind on Washington D Dmitry Orlov during Game 3.
2. Holtby, who recorded an assist in Game 3, has one more point in the series than Flyers captain Claude Giroux (team-leading 67 points in regular season) and RW Wayne Simmonds (career-high 32 goals this season).
3. The Flyers are one of four NHL teams to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games. Philadelphia, which upended Boston in a 2010 second-round series, is joined by Toronto (1942), the New York Islanders (1975) and Los Angeles (2014) in that group.