Back the Capitals to end the Flyers’ playoff hopes in Tuesday night’s matchup

The math is complicated for the Philadelphia Flyers, but they still have a chance to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Flyers need to beat Washington in regulation on Tuesday night, have the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Detroit Red Wings in regulation and then the New York Islanders do the same to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.

For the Capitals, it’s a lot simpler: Win and in.

The Flyers are a -135 favorite at the time of writing.

Capitals vs. Flyers prediction: Analysis

It’s quite appropriate that the Capitals and Flyers are closing out the campaigh against one another. Neither team was expected to be competitive in 2023-24, but they both stuck around the playoff race through the similar means. It’s been will over skill this season for these clubs.

That isn’t to say that neither side has talent. For the Caps, the story is in goal with the emergence of Charlie Lindgren. The 30-year-old has been sensational for Washington all season, but he’s really picked things up in crunch time. Lindgren pitched a shutout against the Bruins on Monday night and it would be a shocker if he doesn’t get the call on the second night of the back-to-back.

Lindgren is 24-16-7 with a .910 save percentage and a +17.3 Goals Saved Above Expected this season.

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The Flyers, meanwhile, will turn to Samuel Ersson in net. The 23-year-old Swede has expectedly been up and down in his rookie campaign, but he has played much better in his last two outings. Still, Ersson is a massive question mark compared to Lindgren.

Philadelphia should have the advantage at 5-on-5 against Washington, but the goaltending mismatch is hard to overlook when you’re required to lay some juice with the Flyers. So while this is a tough schedule spot for the Caps, who pulled out a gutsy win over the Bruins on Monday night, I’d still play Washington at anything better than +110.

Capitals vs. Flyers prediction: Pick

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