The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!! -- Game 40: Capitals at Flyers, January 8th

The Peerless Prognosticator is ON THE AIR!!!

The Washington Capitals are playing in back-to-back games, and that means an abbreviated prognosto for this evening’s contest in Philadelphia against the Flyers.

Here is pretty much what you need to know… Philly stinks. Why?  Well, let’s take a look…

• They have two regulation wins in their last 11 games (4-5-2 overall).
• They rank 18th in 5-on-5 goals for/goals against ratio (0.97).
• They have the second-worst penalty kill in the league (75.0 percent)…well, tied with Buffalo, a team with which you don’t want to be tied with in anything at the moment.
• They have more losses by three or more goals (7) than only six teams.
• They have the fourth-worst winning percentage in one-goal games (.300/6-7-7).
• Only five teams have been shut out more times than the Flyers (4).
• No team has fewer shutouts of their own (1).
• They have the fifth-worst winning percentage when allowing the game’s first goal, which they’ve done 25 times in 40 games (.200/5-16-4).
• They have been outscored over all in each regulation period.
• Only six teams have allowed more goals at 5-on-5.

Need we go on?  OK, let's...

• They’ve scored just ten goals over their last six games
• They’ve allowed 20 goals over those same six games.
• They are 1-4-1 over those six games, their lone win coming in a Gimmick against Ottawa on Tuesday.

What to look for…

-- If goalie Ray Emery gets into the game, keep in mind that he does not yet have any penalty minutes this season. 

-- This is the first meeting of the clubs this season.  Last year, the Caps won the first meeting of the season, 7-0, in Philadelphia.  Ray Emery picked up some penalty minutes -- 29 of them, in fact.

-- In 2012-2013 the Caps won the first game of the season between the clubs, 3-2.  Ray Emery didn’t play.  Then again, he was playing for Chicago.

-- In 2011-2012 the Caps won the first game of the season between the clubs, 5-2.  Ilya Bryzgalov allowed a hu-MANG-ous number of goals.

-- In 2010-2011 the Caps won the first game of the season between the clubs, 3-2 in overtime.  It was a “Game Over Green” special, Mike Green winning it 29 seconds into overtime.  This was before Sergei Bobrovsky was fitted with a Blue Jacket.

You can see a theme here.  Sure, it's Philly, a rival, a team with pride.  They have Orange Fever when they play the Caps.  But as the old adage goes, bet the streak.

Capitals 4 – Flyers 2