Philadelphia Flyers - Fantasy News

Flyers vs. Capital Start 'Em/Sit 'Em (January 20, 2018)

by Jeff Gordon

1/20/18

NHL

Philadelphia Flyers

Jakub Voracek

After suffering a 10-game losing streak earlier this season, the Philadelphia Flyers battled back into the playoff race with a 13-5-1 turnaround. In head coach Dave Hakstol's second season, he finally convinced the Flyers to play a disciplined defensive game.

Goaltender Brian Elliott gave the team a huge lift, starting 19 of 20 games during the team's resurgence. But the Flyers face a huge challenge in a nationally televised game against the explosive Capitals on Sunday afternoon in Washington, D.C.

The Capitals won six of their last seven games before their bye week, then they earned a point against the New Jersey Devils in their first game back from the break. They are threatening to run away with the Metropolitan Division title and earn one of the top Eastern Conference playoff seeds again.

Start 'Em: Sean Couturier
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 10.56

He continues to flourish as the No. 1 center with Claude Giroux on his flank. He also centers the top power-play unit and he plays on the top penalty-killing unit as well. Among NHL forwards only Aleksander Barkov, Anze Kopitar, Vincent Trocheck and Connor McDavid are averaging more all-situations minutes per game. During a 10-game span Couturier topped his Projected Fantasy Points mark eight times. He is on pace to score 47 goals this season after never scoring more than 15 in a year previously. Couturier's overtime game-winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs was his fifth in the last 10 Philadelphia victories.

Sit 'Em: Jakub Voracek
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 9.44

Hakstol has spread his offense at even strength, keeping the productive Giroux/Couturier combo together but using Voracek with Michael Raffl and Valtteri Filppula on the second line and Wayne Simmonds with Nolan Patrick and Jordan Weal in the third group. That limits Voracek's value in five-on-five play. Overall, he scored just one goal in a span of 23 games dating back to November 22. Opponents held him without a point five times in a span of nine games and he put just 14 shots on goal during the first seven contests of January. He failed to top his Projected Fantasy Points value eight times in a 13-game stretch.

Start 'Em: Alexander Ovechkin
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 11.74

He is coming up on 1,000 regular season NHL games and he is still going strong. During a recent 24-game span he pumped in 15 goals and earned 14 assists, producing nine multi-point efforts along the way. Ovechkin has been getting his points at even strength; he scored just two power-play goals during a 19-game span. Once the Capitals get rolling again with the man advantage, look out. He had 88 hits in his first 46 games, down from his usual rate but still quite good for an offensive winger. On the other hand he isn't much for piling up defensive statistics. He had just 11 hits and nine takeaways in those games.

Sit 'Em: T.J. Oshie
Dober Fantasy Points Per Game: 7.46

Last season he scored 33 goals while converting 23 percent of his shots on goal. He was a great fit with either of Washington's playmaking centers, Nicklas Backstrom or Evegeny Kuznetsov. He gladly re-signed with the Capitals for $46 million over the next eight years. That looked like a good contract earlier this season — when he scored six times in his first eight games — but then Oshie reverted back to his old St. Louis Blues form. He scored just five times in his next 32 contests. And in his first 12 games back from his latest concussion, he produced just one goal and four assists. Oshie failed to top his Project Fantasy Points value seven times during an eight-game span.