Capitals vs. Flyers: Lines, Notes, & How to Watch

The Washington Capitals (29-23-7) officially return to action after three weeks. They are set to host the rival Philadelphia Flyers (25-20-11) at Capital One Arena on Wednesday night.

The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.

The NHL has been off for three weeks due to the Winter Olympics. Many players from the league represented their respective countries in the Men’s Hockey Tournament.

Tom Wilson and Logan Thompson represented Team Canada and left Italy with silver medals. Meanwhile, Martin Fehervary played for Team Slovakia and finished fourth in the tournament.

With 65 points, the Capitals are tied with Columbus for ninth place in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the Metro Division. Washington is also four points behind Boston in the East and the Islanders in the Metro.

The Capitals have 23 total games remaining–the lowest in the entire league. Starting on Wednesday, the team will kick off a set of three games in four nights.

The Capitals entered the Olympic break as the only team in the league with as many as 59 games played. Washington also played 22 games between the NHL’s holiday break and the Olympic break, also the most in the league.

The last game the Capitals played before the Olympic break was a much-needed home win against Nashville on Feb. 5. Pierre-Luc Dubois returned to the lineup after missing three months, due to abdominal surgery.

Meanwhile, Philadelphia got off to a strong start to the season, but sputtered into the break with three wins in 15 games. One of those wins came against the Capitals in Philly on Feb. 3.

The Capitals and Flyers are set to meet twice more later this season, in Philadelphia on March 11, and in Washington on March 31.

Expected Capitals Lines

Forwards

Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin

Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson

Anthony Beauvillier – Justin Sourdif – Ryan Leonard

Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Ethen Frank

Defensemen

Martin Fehervary – John Carlson

Jakob Chychrun – Matt Roy

Declan Chisholm – Rasmus Sandin

Goalies

Logan Thompson

Charlie Lindgren

Expected Flyers Lines

Forwards

Trevor Zegras – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny

Matvei Michkov – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink

Denver Barkley – Sean Couturier – Owen Tippett

Nikita Grebenkin – Carl Grundstrom- Garnet Hathaway

Defensemen

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen

Cam York – Jamie Drysdale

Nick Seeler – Noah Juulsen

Goalies

Dan Vladar

Samuel Ersson

How to Watch

TV: Monumental Sports Network

Radio: 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio Network

By Harry Lichtman

Harry Lichtman is an award-winning journalist who covers the Washington Capitals for Sportsnaut. He also contributes to the sites ... More about Harry Lichtman