Flyers Capitals Preview

With the Flyers victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins they now move up to 6th and will face the red hot Washington Capitals. While all eyes will most likely be on Ovechkin there is a lot more to the Capitals and this series than just the "Great 8". Both teams are young and fairly inexperienced when it comes to the playoffs which makes this series more intriguing. The most important thing for the Flyers to do is win game one no matter what the cost (Common sense right?) and break the Capitals momentum and confidence immediately. Coming out in game one trying to get a "feel" for the Caps could prove deadly and quick.

Both teams are similar and seem to lack a solid team Defense, even with players like Mike Green, Braydon Coburn and Kimmo Timonen. Both are riding Hot goaltenders into the playoffs, Huet 9 straight wins, and Marty Biron with back to back shutouts.

Offense for either team does not seem to be much of a problem also, as the Flyers have 7 players with at least 20 goals. The Capitals only have one 60 goal scorer in Alexander Ovechkin, you might have heard of him, and also Rookie Monster Nicklas Backstrom.

Players to watch

Mike Richards

Quickly becoming a star for the Flyers, Mike Richards in every level of hockey explodes in the playoffs.

OHL playoff total: 41 games played, 20 goals, 36 assists.
AHL playoff total: 14 games played, 7 goals, 8 assists.

Jeff Carter

OHL playoff total: 15 games played, 5 goals, 7 assists.
AHL playoff total: 33 games played, 16 goals, 12 assists.

Joffrey Lupul

WHL Playoff total: 11 games played, 4 goals 11 assists.
AHL Playoff total: 12 games played, 3 goals 9 assists.
NHL Playoff total: 16 games played, 9 goals, 2 assists.

He and Richards together need to click in a big way.


Prediction

While the Capitals have been on fire, they have been on fire in an extremely weak Division, where the only team going to the playoffs is indeed the Caps for winning the Division, the Flyers have been hot in arguably the best Division in the east.

Flyers in 6.