Flyers hope return of fans brings energy; Caps’ Tom Wilson will miss 3 games vs. Philly because of suspension
The Flyers hope to be energized by their first home crowd in almost a year Sunday against Washington, which will be missing bad-boy Tom Wilson, who was suspended for seven games by the league.
The Flyers and Washington Capitals will both try to rebound from losses when they meet Sunday night at the Wells Fargo Center, which will have fans in the building for the first time in almost a year.
The Flyers’ 3-2 road trip ended Saturday on a sour note, a sloppy 4-3 loss to Pittsburgh. A bad goal allowed by Brian Elliott tied the game at 3-3 late in the second period and changed the game’s momentum, preventing the Flyers from opening some distance from the Penguins in the standings.
Washington, meanwhile, will try to bounce back from Friday’s 5-1 loss in Boston, which ended the Capitals’ four-game winning streak.
Washington (13-6-4) will be a bit more fresh. The Caps will be playing their fifth game in nine nights, but they will have had a day off between games.
The Flyers (12-6-3) will be playing back-to-back games and their sixth game in nine nights. They looked tired in the third period Saturday.
Maybe having about 3,100 fans in the building will help give them a boost.
“We’re really excited to have them back,” winger Joel Farabee said. “It’s really nice to feel their energy; it really helps us. We’re looking forward to it, and hopefully they’re ready, too.”
In the team’s lone meeting this season, Scott Laughton had his first career hat trick as the Flyers defeated the host Capitals, 7-4, on Feb. 7. Sean Couturier, who had missed the previous 10 games because of a rib injury, and Farabee added three points apiece.
Alex Ovechkin (two goals, two assists) and Tom Wilson (goal, three assists) had four points for Peter Laviolette’s Caps.
Late Saturday night, Wilson was suspended by the NHL for seven games for boarding Boston’s Brandon Carlo on Friday. Three of the games he will miss are against the Flyers this week.
Lately, Wilson has played right wing on the second line, alongside Nicklas Backstrom and Jakub Vrana.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Wilson, one of the league’s most physical/dirty players, has seven goals and 17 points (tied for third on the Caps) in 21 games.
The fourth-place Flyers are three points behind the second-place Caps in the East Division. Washington has played two more games than the Flyers.
Both teams have high-powered offenses and shaky defenses.
The Flyers are sixth in the NHL in scoring (3.33 goals per game) and 20th in goals allowed (3.05 per game). The Caps are ninth in scoring (3.22 per game) and 23rd in goals permitted (3.17 per game).
Hart time
Carter Hart (3.49 GAA, .893 save percentage), who has a 6-4-3 record, will get the start for the Flyers. His career home numbers: a 34-13-5 record with a 2.32 GAA and a .926 save percentage.
Breakaways
The Flyers are 6-2-2 at home, while the Caps are 6-3-2 on the road. ... The Flyers have won 60.7% of their faceoffs over the last six games, tops in the NHL in that span. ... Robert Hagg had eight his in Saturday’s loss in Pittsburgh. ... Couturier’s career-high eight-game point streak ended Saturday. ... James van Riemsdyk leads the Flyers with 26 points and shares the team lead in goals (10) with Farabee. ... Backstrom leads the Caps in points (26), goals (10) and assists (16). ... Ovechkin has seven goals and 17 points, but he is a team-worst minus-10. ... Washington’s Zdeno Chara, 43, has six points and a team-best plus-10 rating. ... Nolan Patrick, who set a screen on Kevin Hayes’ power-play goal Saturday, will try to snap a 14-game point-less streak.