Washington Capitals vs. Philadelphia Flyers: Puck Daddy's NHL Playoff Preview

·Contributing writer

April 12, 2016 at 6:09 p.m.

(The 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs are upon us. The good news for NBC: There are no Canadian teams to bring down the ratings. The bad news for Sportsnet: There are no Canadian teams to bring up the ratings. Such is life. Who wins the Cup? Read our insightful and informative playoff previews!)

How’d They Get Here?

The Capitals have been in cruise control for much of the season. They clinched a playoff spot on March 15 and became the earliest team to claim the Presidents’ Trophy since 2002. So, business as usual.

Philadelphia hovered around the Eastern Conferences Wild Card spots since the All-Star break and finally got their dance ticket with a win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in game No. 81.

Their Last Playoff Meeting

2008. The Flyers nearly blew a 3-1 series lead before Joffrey Lupul’s overtime goal in Game 7 helped them move on to Round 2.

Schedule

Offense

The Capitals finished only behind the Dallas Stars for the league’s best offense (252 goals for), and were again strong at 5-on-5, scoring 164 times, per War on Ice, tying them for first in that category.

Washington saw five players hit the 50-point mark and six players reach 20 goals. Their weapons are well-known, as Alex Ovechkin (50 goals), Nick Backstrom (70 points) and Evgeny Kuznetsov (team-high 77 points) will lead the way. GM Brian MacLellan upgraded the team’s depth in his first summer by signing Justin Williams (22 goals) and trading for T.J. Oshie (51 points). Jason Chimera, Andre Burakovsky and Marcus Johansson also reached double digits in goals, rounding out a well-balanced offense.

Philadelphia’s top trio of Wayne Simmonds (32 goals), Claude Giroux (67 points) and Brayden Schenn (59 points) can’t take a game off otherwise the Flyers will be in trouble.

Sean Couturier, who has found success matched up against Ovechkin, can chip in offensively (11 goals, 39 points), but will be needed defensively to help suppress the Washington offense. Jake Voracek only posted 11 goals during the regular season, but looks back to normal after missing three weeks due to injury.

From there, it’s a drop-off for the Flyers. Aside from Michael Raffl 13 tallies, only Matt Read and Ryan White reached double digit goals. The top lines have done plenty of heavy lifting, so a timely goal here and there from their bottom six will be needed to have any kind of success.

Advantage: Capitals

Defense

John Carlson and Brooks Orpik missed considerable time during the regular season but have now been reunited again on Washington’s blue line. Carlson (39 points) and Matt Niskanen (32 points) were the offensive leaders from the back with Dmitry Orlov and Karl Alzner also contributing.

In goal, Braden Holtby is a Vezina Trophy candidate, and he can play the way he did through the first half, that's good news for Washington. He and the Caps’ defense did help the team to the second-lowest total of goals allowed (193), narrowly missing out on the Jennings Trophy.

The Flyers’ blue line begins with rookie sensation Shayne Gostisbehere, who was called up on Nov. 14 played his way into Calder Trophy consideration with 17 goals and 46 points. He’s also played a heavy role on the power play contributing 22 points in four minutes of on-ice time with the extra man.

Brandon Manning, Evgeny Medvedev, Michael Del Zotto and Radko Gudas were all over 50 percent possession players, per War on Ice, but the group as a whole didn’t suppress shots very well, allowing 30.7 shots per game. Washington recorded 30.6 shots per game this season.

Steve Mason has been a reliable presence in net since they acquired him and was a big part of their playoff push over the last month. His ESSV is better than Holtby’s (.935 to .931) and his play will be what extends this series.

Advantage: Capitals

Special Teams

As you’d expect, the Capitals and their arsenal were a top-5 team with the extra man this season (21.9 percent). Ovechkin led the team with 19 power play goals, but Backstrom was the man creating with 30 power play points, 27 of which were assists.

The Flyers scored on 18.9 percent of their power play chances this season. Unlike the Capitals, though, Philadelphia saw much better success away from Wells Fargo Center — 20.3 percent road vs. 17.6 percent home.

Washington’s penalty kill was also strong as they finished with an 85.2 percent success rate and only Anaheim posting a better number. Philadelphia was in the bottom half of the league killing off 80.5 percent of power plays. Neither side, however, was dangerous offensively while down a man with the Flyers and Capitals finishing in the bottom two for shorthanded goals (2, Washington; 3, Philadelphia.

Advantage: Capitals

Coaching

There’s big difference in playoff experience behind the bench between Barry Trotz and Dave Hakstol. Trotz has 64 postseason games under his belt with two franchises, including 14 with the Capitals, while Hakstol is getting his first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Experience could play a big role behind the bench as this series goes along.

Advantage: Capitals

Five Key Questions

1. Which Capitals team will we see? The one that dominated the first three-quarters of the season or the one that saw its possession numbers take a dip over the final quarter of the year?

2. Can Philadelphia’s depth contribute? Flyers forwards scored 170 goals this season; 115 came from their top six. You don’t get far in the playoffs without help from your bottom line players.

3. Will Steve Mason be able to carry the Flyers? Mason was great for the Flyers two years ago during their seven-game series loss to the New York Rangers. Since coming over from Columbus he’s reinvented himself and been one the team’s MVPs and a reason why no one talks about how bad the goaltending is in Philadelphia.

4. Is Jake Voracek going to score or not? After putting up 67 goals in three seasons entering the 2015-16 campaign, Voracek only mustered up 11 this year. He has one goal since Feb. 20 and three since the end of January. Giroux, Schenn and Simmonds will need all the help they can get offensively.

5. Did Justin Williams’ postseason powers transfer to Washington? “Mr. Game 7” will come in handy if this series goes the distance, but he’s also produced outside of those do-or-die situations. Williams has recorded 0.76 points per game over his last last 64 playoff games, all with LA.

Best Fantasy Options

1. Alex Ovechkin. As long as the Capitals get out of Round 1, he’ll give you goals and assists.

2. Shayne Gostisbehere. Great defense pick as he’ll provide offense at even strength and on the power play.

3. Justin Williams. With 19 goals and 49 points in his last three postseasons, Mr. Game 7 will come through for you.

Prediction

Capitals in 6. Of the eight first-round series, this one might provide the most fun. While Washington played the final few weeks already knowing they’d own home ice with the No. 1 seed locked up, the Flyers were in playoff mode for the second half. Even with the motivation to make a deep run in honor of their late owner, Ed Snider, Washington will end up being too strong in the end offensively and defensively, with the recent dip in form quickly forgotten about.

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY: