Washington @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 8, 2019 ) Philadelphia 3, Washington 5

The Philadelphia Flyers reversed their fortunes immediately after dropping a 5-3 decision to the Washington Capitals on Jan. 8, stringing together a 17-4-2 mark to move within earshot of the final wild-card spot of the Eastern Conference. The Flyers look to continue their torrid stretch and avenge that previous setback to the Capitals on Wednesday when the Metropolitan Division rivals meet in Philadelphia.

"We're obviously not where we want to be," Flyers interim coach Scott Gordon told Philly.com, "but we're working on it every day and every game to make sure we worry about the game in front of us and not the teams ahead of us. Just worry about the game at hand and, for the most part, we've done that for over a month now." The Flyers did the Capitals a favor on Sunday by posting a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders, mere hours after Washington won its fourth straight game and jumped into first place with a 3-2 shootout triumph over the Rangers. Captain Alex Ovechkin, who "scored" the decisive goal in the shootout when Alexandar Georgiev threw his stick at the puck, has recorded 33 goals and 55 points in 50 career encounters against Philadelphia. Flyers forward Jakub Voracek, who scored a goal and set up two others in that meeting and has 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in the last 21 contests, will miss his second straight game with an undisclosed lower-body injury.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Network, TVAS

ABOUT THE CAPITALS (38-21-7): Jakub Vrana recorded his first career three-point performance with two goals and an assist in the first meeting with the Flyers while T.J. Oshie also tallied twice. The 23-year-old Vrana, however, has just five goals in the 24 games that followed while Oshie has 24 points (eight goals, 16 assists) in that same stretch. Fellow forward Andre Burakovsky scored on Sunday to lift his point total to four (two goals, two assists) in his last five games.

ABOUT THE FLYERS (32-26-8): Nolan Patrick, who was hit in the face with a shot by Cal Clutterbuck in the first period on Sunday, did not practice on Tuesday and may be joining Voracek on the sideline against the Capitals. "They're big pieces to our team," captain Claude Giroux said on Tuesday. "The best thing we can do right now ... is play as one unit and take care of business." The 31-year-old Giroux, who scored in the first meeting with Washington, has been taking care of business with two goals and seven assists during his last five games to reach the 70-point plateau for the sixth time in his career.

OVERTIME

1. Washington and Philadelphia will face off against each other three times in the next 10 days.

2. Flyers C Travis Konecny, who has 10 goals in his last 19 games, will replace Voracek on the first power-play unit on Wednesday.

3. Capitals G Braden Holtby has turned aside 63 of 68 shots to win his last three starts.

PREDICTION: Capitals 3, Flyers 2