Stealing a win versus the Dallas Stars was huge. When a team begins to believe, they become dangerous.
A lot of people roll their eyes at these ‘culture concepts,’ but I would argue that those people haven’t often had the privilege of being a part of a team facing adversity. The Philadelphia Flyers (37-24-12) leaned into an ‘us against the world’ mentality after defeating the Stars in overtime, 2-1. That was the first taste of the NHL for Porter Martone, who will make his debut tonight against the Washington Capitals (37-28-9). He already knew what he was getting himself into with nine games remaining in the 2025-2026 NHL Regular Season. His inclusion in that atmosphere is the perfect ‘welcome to the NHL’ moment.
“I’ve been following around the [Philadelphia] Flyers the whole season, and right now, it’s the most exciting time of the year when you have that push to get into the playoffs. You don’t want to look too far in the standings, but they’re right there. Just being able to come into this group, I know the Flyers; they’ve got a great room down there, just the things I’ve heard. I’m excited to join it and help in any way I can.” – Porter Martone; 3/30/2026
Martone is inserted into the top six of the lineup and on the top power play unit. That’ll force Travis Konecny to LW and keep Matvei Michkov on the second power play unit. As the future forward group begins to take shape, Rick Tocchet is searching for a balance. He’s keeping a lot of the youth in the lineup and relying on veterans who have experience in games with postseason implications.
“It’s important [that] I get him [Porter Martone] out there, quickly. [If the] guy makes a mistake early, he’s not going to sit [on the] bench. He’s got to get out there. It’s like anything; as a coach, you try to see where the game’s going. Definitely try to make him feel comfortable out there. That’s something I got to do for him.” – Rick Tocchet; 3/31/2026
Hockey is transformative; while it’s important to play the youth, no team is going to sacrifice a postseason berth, potentially. In the NHL, after the Trade Deadline, a mix of veterans isn’t a bad thing. They’re battle-tested for the hard-checking pace that’s to come, and the Flyers are living up to that testament as of late.
Tonight, Philadelphia cannot take its foot off the gas against the Capitals.
Tale of the Tape
- Power Play: 17.1% (29th) Washington Capitals
- Power Play: 15.6% (32nd) Philadelphia Flyers
- Penalty Kill: 79.7% (13th) Washington Capitals
- Penalty Kill: 78.8% (17th) Philadelphia Flyers
- Faceoff: 49.7% (17th) Washington Capitals
- Faceoff: 49% (23rd) Philadelphia Flyers
- Goals For: 3.11 (17th) Washington Capitals
- Goals For: 2.84 (24th) Philadelphia Flyers
- Goals Against: 2.88 (7th) Washington Capitals
- Goals Against: 2.95 (10th) Philadelphia Flyers
Injury Report: Philadelphia Flyers
Injury Report: Washington Capitals
- Aliaksei Protas (upper body)
When: 7pm/ET
Where: Capital One Arena; Washington, DC
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Last Game PHI: 3/29/26; 2-1 W; vs. Dallas Stars
Last Game WSH: 3/28/26; 5-4 W/SO; at Vegas Golden Knights
Philadelphia Flyers
Daniel Vladař (24-12-7, 2.44GAA, 90.7%SV) will occupy the crease. It’ll be his third time facing Washington in the 2025-2026 NHL Regular Season. He’s 1-1-0 against the Capitals, suffering the loss on the road, head-to-head with Logan Thompson on February 25th.
Konecny (26G, 37A, +12) scored the almighty first goal versus Dallas on the power play. Generally, the Flyers are not the ones to score first in games this season, and their power play ranks dead last (32nd) in the NHL. He’ll remain on the top power play unit with Martone, but Michkov (16G, 24A, -8) on the second power play unit remains an odd decision for a team that has nothing to lose and everything to gain on the man-advantage. If Washington takes early penalties and Philadelphia doesn’t convert on the power play, Tocchet would be wise to swap Michkov onto the top unit, maneuvering Noah Cates (17G, 24A, +20) to the second power play unit.
Rasmus Ristolainen (1G, 9A, +2) and Nick Seeler (2G, 6A, -2) attacked the offensive zone versus the Stars. Seeler led the defensive unit in shots on goal and hits, while Ristolainen tallied an assist with Michkov when Konecny put the Flyers ahead in the first period on the power play. Defensively, Philadelphia played a superb game in front of Samuel Ersson (13-10-5, 3.11GAA, 87%SV), allowing 18 total shots on goal. That combined effort is a prerequisite for a postseason berth. Relying on Vladař to stand on his head against Washington is not a certainty.
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
Denver Barkey – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny – Christian Dvorak – Porter Martone
Carl Grundström – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Sean Couturier – Luke Glendening – Garnet Hathaway
Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Emil Andrae
Daniel Vladař
(Samuel Ersson)
Projected Lineup: Washington Capitals
Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Connor McMichael
Hendrix Lapierre – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Anthony Beauvillier – Justin Sourdif – Ryan Leonard
Brandon Duhaime – David Kämpf – Ivan Miroshnichenko
Martin Fehérváry – Rasmus Sandin
Jakob Chychrun – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Cole Hutson – Matt Roy
Logan Thompson
(Charlie Lindgren)
You must be logged in to post a comment Login