(SportsNetwork.com) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to sweep a home-and- home series with the rival Washington Capitals when they host the finale Wednesday at Wells Fargo Center.
These clubs met Saturday in D.C. and Philly rallied for a 5-4 overtime victory. The Flyers trailed 2-1 after the first period and 4-2 after 40 minutes, but kept coming at the Capitals and wound up winning the Metropolitan Division battle on Vinny Lecavalier's goal at 2:45 of the extra session.
The victory was the sixth in seven games for the Flyers, who are currently second in the division and one point ahead of the third-place New York Rangers. The top-three teams in each division earn automatic bids to the playoffs and Washington is just one point back of the Rangers for the Metro's third spot.
The Capitals hope to get back on track Wednesday after having a four-game winning streak snapped with Saturday's loss. It was Washington's fourth setback in its last six meetings against the Flyers.
Washington has lost four of its past five games in Philadelphia.
The Flyers tied the game at 4-4 on Claude Giroux's goal with 1:05 left in the third period, setting up Lecavalier's OT heroics. Kimmo Timonen brought the puck in down the middle and dished it over to his left for Lecavalier, who let fly with a wrister that tipped off a Capital and sailed into the net for the win.
Giroux scored twice and added an assist, while Jakub Voracek posted a goal and two assists for the Flyers, who took a pair of wins over the weekend against divisional opponents as the team grabbed a 4-2 victory against the Rangers on Saturday.
"I think the whole game we played good, but it just wasn't going in," said Giroux. "We saw ourselves being down 4-2 and kept playing the same way and it started to go in."
Adam Hall added a short-handed goal, while Steve Mason posted 25 saves in the victory.
Dmitry Orlov scored twice, but took a boarding major in the third period that helped Philly get back into the game. Trailing by two goals, the Flyers caught a break when Orlov was handed a major for boarding after he slammed into Brayden Schenn at 9:33 of the third. Orlov had been hit by Schenn earlier in the shift.
Working with a full five minutes, the Flyers kept control of the puck in the Washington zone and peppered Holtby with shots, finally getting one through on a one-timer from Voracek at the right circle with 8:02 to play.
"You have to be disciplined. A five-minute penalty, and I'm not saying it's a five-minute board, but he retaliated and you can't do that," said Washington head coach Adam Oates. "You had a great game, scored two goals, now is not the time. You need to be disciplined."
In addition to helping the Flyers get back in the game, Orlov also earned a two-game suspension for his hit on Schenn.
Jay Beagle and Marcus Johansson also scored in Saturday's loss, and Braden Holtby gave up all five goals on 36 shots for the Capitals.
Both the Flyers and Capitals made trades since their last meeting and the clubs could have the new faces in the lineup on Wednesday.
Philadelphia acquired defenseman Andrew MacDonald from the New York Islanders on Tuesday. The Flyers sent New York a pair of future draft choices, a third- rounder in 2014 and a 2015 second-round pick, as well as minor league forward Matt Mangene in exchange for MacDonald.
MacDonald has served as a mainstay along the Islanders' blue line over the past five seasons and is on pace to set a career-best in points in 2013-14, having recorded four goals and 20 assists in 63 games. The 27-year-old led New York and ranks eighth in the league in average ice time per game (25:25), and has averaged 20 or minutes per contest in each of his five full NHL seasons.
The Capitals, meanwhile, made a pair of moves on Tuesday. Washington acquired veteran forward Dustin Penner from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for a fourth- round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. The Caps also picked up forward Chris Brown, defenseman Rostislav Klesla and a fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft from the Coyotes in exchange for forwards Martin Erat and John Mitchell.
Penner had 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points in 49 games with the Ducks this season. The 31-year-old Manitoba native has 150 goals and 157 assists for 307 points in 571 NHL games over 10 seasons with the Kings, Oilers and Ducks. He won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007 and the Kings in 2012.
Klesla collected one goal and four points in 25 games with Phoenix this season, his 13th in the NHL. The 31-year-old blueliner has 48 goals and 111 assists in 659 career games with Columbus and Phoenix.
Brown, 23, has appeared in just 11 games with Phoenix over the last two seasons since being selected by the team in the second round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
