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The Washington Capitals face the Philadelphia Flyers today at Wells Fargo Center in the second game of a back-to-back set. Washington defeated the NY Islanders 3-2 (SO) on Saturday, marking their season-high fourth consecutive win. Since Dec. 4, the Capitals have posted a 23-7-6 record, marking the most points in the NHL during that span (52). Washington is 8-2-0 in its last 10 outings and have averaged 3.00 goals per game during that span. The Capitals are 24-7-4 this season when scoring three or more goals. Washington ranks seventh in the NHL in goals per game (2.93), tied for 10th in 5-on-5 goals (114) and tied for 12th in faceoff win percentage (51.0%).
Dynamic Duo – Alex Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals (38) and ranks tied for fourth in points (61) and Nicklas Backstrom leads the League in assists (46) and points (64). Backstrom and Ovechkin have combined to register 125 points this season, marking the highest total for any teammates in the NHL. Backstrom (18) and Ovechkin (38) have also combined to score 56 goals this season, ranking first in the League. Ovechkin leads the Capitals in goals and Backstrom ranks second. Backstrom has earned an assist on 25 of Ovechkin’s 38 goals this season and since Backstrom entered the NHL in 2007-08, he has recorded an assist on 165 of Ovechkin’s 362 goals (45.6%).
Leading the Way – Nicklas Backstrom tallied an assist on Saturday against the Islanders, extending his assist streak to four games (2/15-2/21: 2g, 5a). Backstrom has tallied 17 assists in his last 17 games (1/16-2/21: 5g, 17a) and leads the NHL in assists (46) and points (64). With his three points (2g, 1a) on Thursday against Winnipeg, Backstrom (558) moved into fifth place on the Capitals franchise points list, passing Bengt Gustafsson (555) and Dale Hunter (556). Since he entered the NHL in 2007-08, Backstrom ranks third in the League in assists (413), trailing Henrik Sedin (457) and Joe Thornton (442).
Closing in on Pivonka – Michal Pivonka ranks first on the Capitals franchise assist list, earning 418 assists in 825 career games with Washington. Alex Ovechkin ranks second on the franchise assist list and Nicklas Backstrom ranks third. Ovechkin has registered 415 assists in 739 career games and sits four assists shy of passing Pivonka. Backstrom sits three assists shy of passing Ovechkin for second place, earning 413 assists in 555 career games.
Holt-beast – Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 30 of 32 shots on Saturday against the Islanders, including all three shots he faced in the shootout, to earn his career-high 29th win of the season and his third consecutive win (2/17-2/21). The Lloydminster, Saskatchewan, native has posted a 7-2-1 record in his last 10 starts (1/28-2/21) with two shutouts, a 1.49 goals-against average and .946 save percentage. Holtby leads the NHL in ice time (2,997) and games played (51), ranks tied for second in shutouts (6), second in saves (1,321), fourth in goals-against average (2.14) and tied for fourth in save percentage (.925) and wins (29). Holtby is the third goaltender in Capitals history to record at least six shutouts in one season, joining Jim Carey (nine shutouts in 1995-96) and Olaf Kolzig (six shutouts in 2001-02). Since the start of the 2012-13 season, Holtby and Boston’s Tuukka Rask rank tied for first in the NHL in shutouts (14).
Road Warriors – The Capitals are 16-10-5 on the road this season. Washington’s 16 road wins rank fourth in the Eastern Conference. Washington also ranks among the top-10 in the NHL in several statistical categories away from Verizon Center: third in goals (90), third in hits (907) and fourth in power-play percentage (22.4%). The Capitals have scored four power-play goals in their last four games (2/11-2/17). Joel Ward has registered 15 of his 24 points on the road this season, Eric Fehr has scored 10 of his 16 goals away from home and Braden Holtby is 3-1-1 in his last five road games with a 1.98 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. The Capitals have averaged 3.15 goals per game in their last 20 road games (12/4-2/17).
