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Flyers to battle Capitals for top spot in the East on Tuesday

The Washington Capitals, minus star Alex Ovechkin and some other key players, will attempt to tie the Flyers for points atop the Eastern Conference in Tuesday's showdown at the Wells Fargo Center.

"We have to worry about what we have to do on the ice," said Claude Giroux. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
"We have to worry about what we have to do on the ice," said Claude Giroux. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

The Washington Capitals, minus star Alex Ovechkin and some other key players, will attempt to tie the Flyers for points atop the Eastern Conference in Tuesday's showdown at the Wells Fargo Center.

The Caps are also expected to be without three other injured players: Mike Green (concussion; eight goals), a gifted offensive defenseman who averages a team-high 25 minutes, 11 seconds of ice time per game; and forwards Jason Arnott (groin; 15 goals) and Eric Fehr (shoulder; 10 goals).

The Flyers will be missing defensive leader Chris Pronger, who skated at Monday's practice in Voorhees for the first time since last week's hand surgery, but isn't close to returning.

"It's part of hockey," Flyers center Danny Briere said about the injuries. "I'm just excited about the game. I think it's great that we have a game that's really meaningful. It's been a little tough finding the motivation at times when you're playing Ottawa and Florida or teams like that."

Against Washington, a team that has won nine of its last 10, "we have to be ready, and I'm sure they will be, too," Briere said. "It's a chance for them to climb all the way back to No. 1, so I'm sure they're going to be ready."

Coach Peter Laviolette and his players downplayed facing the Capitals without Ovechkin, who is expected to miss seven to 10 days because of what the team called "nagging injuries." The left winger keys Washington's power play and leads his team in goals (29), points (77) and plus-minus rating (plus-22).

"Ovechkin or not, the Washington Capitals are a great hockey team," winger Scott Hartnell said. "It's going to [take] a big effort; it's going to be a great atmosphere, and we're excited about it."

With Ovechkin sidelined, "it's not going to change our game plan," said Claude Giroux, who leads the Flyers with 66 points and 43 assists. "We have to worry about what we have to do on the ice, and not who's on the ice over on their side."

The Caps "have done a good job of playing the game tough defensively, a good job of generating the offense they need to, and they've gotten good goaltending," said Laviolette, whose team has a two-point lead over the Capitals and has two games in hand. "They've done it through a team effort. I don't think they've relied just on one guy."

While the Capitals are the NHL's hottest team, the Flyers are 4-0-2 in their last six games.

"We've been playing better lately, but not completely up to where we want to be," Briere said. "But this week - and next week, too - with Pittsburgh twice and Boston and Washington, hopefully it'll make us rack up the intensity a little bit, because if we play the same way we've been playing lately, we might get in trouble against those big teams."

Briere said the Flyers need to improve their puck possession and get more time in the opponent's end.

"We were really good at that early in the season, cycling teams," he said. "We got away from that. That used to be one of our strengths, and I'd like our team to start doing that more, especially against the good teams. If you can do that and keep the puck away from them and in their zone, it creates a lot of frustration" for opponents.

After facing Washington, the Flyers host the Penguins on Thursday.

"In an 82-game schedule, you have your highs and lows," defenseman Sean O'Donnell said, "but there's no doubt we've had this week circled" on the calendar.

Down the Stretch

After Tuesday's game, these games remain for the Flyers and Capitals:

Thursday

Penguins at Flyers, 7 p.m.

Friday

Captials at Senators, 7:30

Saturday

Flyers at Islanders, 7 p.m.

Capitals at Canadiens, 7 p.m.

Sunday

Bruins at Flyers, 7 p.m.

Next Tuesday

Flyers at Penguins, 7 p.m.

Hurricanes at Capitals, 7 p.m.

March 31

Thrashers at Flyers, 7 p.m.

Blue Jackets at Capitals, 7 p.m.

April 1

Flyers at Devils, 7 p.m.

April 2

Sabres at Capitals, 7 p.m.

April 3

Rangers at Flyers, 12:30 p.m.

April 5

Flyers at Senators, 7:30 p.m.

Capitals at Maple Leafs, 7 p.m.

April 6

Panthers at Capitals, 7 p.m.

April 8

Flyers at Sabres, 7:30 p.m.

April 9

Islanders at Flyers, 7 p.m.

Capitals at Panthers, 7 p.m.

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