Washington @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 13, 2019 ) Washington 2, Philadelphia 1

The NHL-best Washington Capitals try to continue their mastery of Metropolitan Division rival Philadelphia when they visit the Flyers on Wednesday. Washington has won five straight meetings after a 2-1 shootout decision at Philadelphia on Nov. 13 - one of its league-high 17 road victories on the road this season (17-5-1) - and puts a three-game winning streak on the line after routing Ottawa 6-1 on Tuesday.

Captain Alex Ovechkin scored twice for the Capitals on Tuesday, moving him into a tie with Teemu Selanne for 11th all-time with 684 goals - six shy of 10th-place Mario Lemieux. Washington, which is 6-5-1 against Metropolitan clubs and 24-4-4 against everyone else, owns an eight-point advantage over the New York Islanders - the largest division lead in the league. Philadelphia has lost four straight after completing a 1-4-1 trip with a 5-4 overtime setback to Carolina on Tuesday. The Flyers, who sit fifth in the Metropolitan, are 13-2-4 at home and have won four straight at Wells Fargo Center.

TIME: 7:30 p.m. ET. TV: NBC Sports Network

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (30-9-5): Ovechkin has 26 goals this season - tied for third in the league - and his 42 points are second on the club behind defenseman John Carlson (54), who had two assists against Ottawa. T.J. Oshie and Jakub Vrana have 18 goals apiece and combined for six in the last three games while Evgeny Kuznetsov (41 points) boasts four goals and four assists in his past six contests after recording a helper versus Ottawa. Braden Holtby (13-4-8, 2.39 goals-against average, .920 save percentage against Philadelphia) is expected to take the net Wednesday after Ilya Samsonov made 26 saves versus the Senators.

ABOUT THE FLYERS (22-15-6): Travis Konecny leads the team with 37 points and matched Claude Giroux for the club lead in goals by scoring his 13th of the season 37 seconds into Tuesday's game. Sean Couturier (35 points) recorded an assist versus Carolina and has two goals and three assists in his last three contests. Carter Hart tries to snap a three-start losing streak Wednesday after Brian Elliott stopped 28 shots Tuesday.

OVERTIME

1. Carlson leads NHL defenseman in points - nine ahead of Nashville's Roman Josi, who has one more goal (14) than Carlson.

2. Philadelphia's three-game homestand also includes games against red-hot Tampa Bay on Saturday and Atlantic-leading Boston on Monday.

3. Washington boasts the No. 3 penalty killing unit in the league, extinguishing its only chance Tuesday after allowing four power-play goals in 10 chances over the previous two games.

PREDICTION: Capitals 3, Flyers 2