The Philadelphia Flyers come out of the NHL’s Olympic break with a visit to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, with the Metropolitan Division rivals each looking to get back into the postseason race.
Washington sits four points behind both the New York Islanders for the third Metro Division playoff slot and the Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference’s final wild-card spot. The Flyers are four points behind the Capitals, battling an extended slump which has left Philadelphia facing a tougher path to the playoffs.
The Flyers are 3-8-4 in their last 15 games and won just one of their last six games before the break (1-3-2). The lone victory in that six-game stretch was a 4-2 home win over the Capitals on Feb. 3 in the two clubs’ first meeting of the season.
If Philadelphia doesn’t show some spark in its next five games, the Flyers could be sellers by the March 6 trade deadline. Rasmus Ristolainen has been rumored as a trade candidate. While he has yet to reach the playoffs over his 13 NHL seasons, he believes he can finally reach the postseason in a Flyers uniform.
“I think we’ve shown (our ability) in the past and we’re confident. … I think we’re ready to make a push,” Ristolainen said.
Philadelphia’s Olympic contingent of Ristolainen (Finland), Travis Sanheim (Canada) and Dan Vladar (Czechia) are all expected to be available Wednesday.
The Capitals also dropped under the playoff line due to an extended slump, posting a 7-13-4 record from Dec. 11 to Jan. 27. Just as things were turning dire, the Capitals went 4-1-0 in five games prior to the Olympic hiatus, so the team will now have to sustain that momentum after the long break.
“As quickly as we can get our guys back into game mode (the better),” Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said. “(We’ll) make sure that all the little nuances inside of the game are going to happen a lot quicker than they have over the week in practice.”
Forward Connor McMichael (upper-body injury) and goaltender Charlie Lindgren (lower-body injury) are expected to be available Wednesday after missing Washington’s last four games before the break. McMichael still has to be activated from the injured reserve, while Lindgren was removed from the IR on Monday.
Lindgren may start in net over Logan Thompson, as Carbury wasn’t sure if Thompson or Tom Wilson will play Wednesday or receive extra rest after representing the Canadian team that reached Sunday’s Olympic gold-medal game.
John Carlson is another question mark for Washington’s lineup. The defenseman sustained a lower-body injury in the Capitals’ last game before the break and was a limited participant in the team’s Tuesday practice session.
Carlson leads the Capitals with 36 assists. Wilson leads the Capitals in both goals (23) and points (49).
Travis Konecny leads the Flyers in goals (22), assists (32) and points (54). Fifteen of those points (eight goals, seven assists) have come in Konecny’s last 10 games.
Since the Flyers face the Rangers in New York on Thursday, Vladar and Samuel Ersson will likely split the back-to-back starts in some order. Ersson has been practicing with the team and seems fully recovered from the lower-body injury that sidelined the goaltender for Philadelphia’s final three games before the break.
