Flyers Game Day: March 31 @ Capitals

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Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (37-24-12) are in DC on Tuesday to take on Spencer Carbery’s Washington Capitals (37-28-9). The Flyers are on an eight-game winning streak on the road and three-game overall winning streak.

Game time at Capital One Arena is 7:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on NBCSP.

Tuesday’s tilt marks the fourth and final game of the season series between the Metropolitan Division rivals.The Flyers are 2-1-0 so far against Washington: 4-2 home win (Feb. 3), 3-1 road loss (Feb. 25), and 4-1 home win (March 11).

Martone to make NHL debut

Flyers fans everywhere will have their eyes glued to 19-year-old Porter Martone in his National Hockey League debut. The sixth overall pick of the 2025 NHL Draft had a stellar collegiate freshman season at Michigan State. In just 35 games, Martone led Michigan State with 25 goals and 50 points. He also captained Team Canada at the World Junior Championships (six goals, nine points in seven games).

Last year, Martone suited up both in the World Juniors and the IIHF World Championships. At the latter, he played with and against dozens of current or former National Hockey League players.

Where to watch

Time and broadcast: 8:00 p.m. EDT on ABC
Listen online: FlyersRadio 24/7
RAV4 keys to the game for Philadelphia: click here
In-game watch party (Maher Media): click here

Leading scorers: Flyers (through 73 games)

Travis Konecny — 63 points (26g, 37a)
Trevor Zegras — 59 points (23g, 36a)
Owen Tippett — 48 points (27g, 21a)
Christian Dvorak — 44 points (15g, 29a)
Noah Cates — 41 points (17g, 24a)
Matvei Michkov — 40 points (16g, 24a)
Sean Couturier — 32 points (10g, 22a)
Travis Sanheim — 31 points (8g, 23a)
Jamie Drysdale — 30 points (8g, 22a)
Cam York — 26 points (4g, 22a) in 66 games
Nikita Grebenkin — 14 points (4g, 10a) in 55 games

Goaltender stats

Dan Vladar — 45 GP, 24-12-7, 2.44 GAA, .907 SV%
Samuel Ersson — 30 GP, 13-10-5, 3.11 GAA, .870 SV%
Aleksei Kolosov — 4 GP, 0-2-0, 4.00 GAA, .830 SV%

Flyers Lineup

The Flyers will hold an 11 a.m. EDT morning skate in Washington. At the skate, it will become clearer which line Martone will start on in his debut. Most of the team had an off-day on Monday.

The lines below reflects Sunday’s combinations against Dallas. It will be updated after Tuesday’s morning skate.

Alex Bump – Christian Dvorak – Travis Konecny
Denver Barkey– Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Carl Grundstrom – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Sean Couturier – Luke Glendening – Garnet Hathaway

Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Emil Andrae

Dan Vladar
Samuel Ersson

Sunday’s Scratches: Noah Juulsen (Day to day), Nikita Grebenkin (upper body), Garrett Wilson (healthy).

Flyers Playoff Outlook

Entering play on Tuesday, the Flyers are three points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the Metro. The Islanders still have a tiebreaker advantage over the Flyers by virtue of 28 regulation wins to Philly’s 23. The Flyers, however, have played two fewer games than the Islanders. That means Philadelphia has control of its own destiny over the final nine games. The Flyers are four points plus a 30-23 regulation wins tiebreaker disadvantage behind the second-place Pittsburgh Penguins. The top three finishers in each division earn automatic playoff spots.

In the Eastern Conference wildcard race, the Flyers are two points plus a 27-23 regulation wins tiebreaker behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the lower wildcard spot. The Flyers, Ottawa Senators and Detroit Red Wings are all tied with 86 points. However, both Ottawa (32 to 23) and Detroit (28 to 23) are ahead of the Flyers in the standings via tiebreaker.

The Flyers enter Tuesday’s game coming off a stellar performance in Sunday’s 2-1 home overtime victory over the Dallas Stars. Travis Konency (26th goal of the season) scored in regulation. Trevor Zegras (23rd) netted the winning goal in sudden death.

Washnington, three points behind the Flyers, has won back-to-back games. On Saturday, the Capitals led by a 3-0 score then trailed 4-3. Dylan Strome (17th) tied the game with a mid third period power play goal. Later, Strome scored the winning goal in the shoot to secure a 5-4 (1-0) victory.

Flyers Daily: Mondays with Meltzer

Jason and I look back on the week that was in Flyers Hockey including a weekend sweep as the Flyers have restored their place among playoff contenders. We also discuss the recent play of Owen Tippett and others that have been huge difference makers since the break. Finally, we share our thoughts on the in short order signing of first round pick Porter Martone and his arrival in Philadelphia with thoughts on where and with he may play times coming week.