Caleb Weiler
The Philadelphia Flyers are coming off a crushing defeat against Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators. Aside from one deflection shot by Andrew Macdonald, which resulted in the Flyers’ lone goal, Rinne shut the Flyers down and they lost in a way that we’re all too used to.
The shootout.
Rinne stopped 31-of-32 shots through regulation and overtime, posting a 0.969 save percentage and stopping all three shootout attempts.
After a surprising 10-game winning streak from the Orange and Black, they have now lost two games in a row, one in regulation and another in overtime. They now have a quick turnaround into a Rivalry Night game on the NBC Sports Network against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
The Capitals, who have won six of their last seven contests, are a point behind the Flyers in the Metropolitan Division. They do, however, have four games in hand. The Capitals lost their last contest 2-1 against the Montreal Canadiens, but are the hotter team coming into the game.
Ovechkin is 11 points from hitting the career milestone of 1000 points in his career. He has also gotten off to a slow start with 23 points, 14 goals and 9 assists in his first 30 games. The entire world knows what he is capable of. This close to a milestone, there is a chance that we are going to witness some big games from him coming up.
If the Flyers want to continue to have a hold on a playoff spot, this is a big game for them to prove that they can break out of a mini slump and get back to their winning ways.
This is the first meeting between the two clubs this season, which means that this is a revenge game for the Flyers since the Capitals bounced them out of the playoffs last year. Thirty five games into the season, it is difficult to say that the Flyers will have a “must win” or “statement game,” but if there were to be one, this would be it. They have cooled off since their 10-game winning streak and while no Flyers fans would expect them to win out, that streak set a new precedent for the rest of the year.
After being a key part of the streak, Claude Giroux has tapered off and has only registered two assists and no goals in his last five games. Against the Capitals, Giroux is over a point-per-game player with 31 in 29 games. If the Flyers want to win this game, it is going to take an extraordinary effort from their captain so that they can get back on the right track.
This is going to have to be a very hard fought game for the Flyers against last year’s Presidents Trophy winners. The Capitals have an All-Star studded lineup, with names like Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeni Kuznetzov and Braden Holtby, the Flyers are going to have to bring their best game to get the win Wednesday night.
Not only is this a revenge game for the Flyers, but it is a chance to show the league and themselves that they can continue to overcome adversity as the season rolls along. They are currently fourth in the Metropolitan Division but that can all change tomorrow night if the Capitals come away with two points.
At 35 games into the season, this is a must-win for the Flyers on Rivalry Night.