Capitals vs. Flyers Preview: The Not-So Clash of the Titans

With 10 games remaining in the regular season, what better way to create excitement than to have the top two teams in the conference face off against each other?

However, tonight's game between the Washington Capitals and the Philadelphia Flyers may not turn out to be your typical "Beasts of the East" matchup.

While the teams are only separated by two points, both will be without their best players. Washington, who already has significant injuries, will be without their franchise superstar winger, Alexander Ovechkin.

Philly, as the case in the past few games, will be without their top defenseman and game changer, Chris Pronger. As much as we would love to see these two teams mutilate each other, the more likely case could be a protection program tonight in Philadelphia.

The Washington Capitals have made it very clear that finishing first in the conference is not their priority. The Caps announced yesterday that they will give Ovechkin the next 10 days off. The reason for this is not because he is unable to play, but because they want him to accelerate his recovery in a minor undisclosed injury and be at full health for the playoffs.

Coach Bruce Boudreau is clearly monitoring his squad and taking a better-safe-than-sorry approach into the remaining few weeks of the regular season. It can be expected, however, that without Ovi, the team will look to win the game based on defense. We should see an even tighter game from the Caps tonight.

The Philadelphia Flyers, on the other hand, will probably be looking to add more cushion to their conference lead; however, this is not to say they won't take a cautious approach in doing so.

The Flyers have several precious weapons on their roster and will not take any chances in having injuries prior to the playoffs. 

Pronger is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season with a broken hand, but he should be healthy for the start of the playoffs. The Flyers have slowed down a little in their last few weeks, but are still winning enough to preserve their lead.

Contrary to popular belief, the Capitals are not completely helpless without the Great 8. Ovechkin is clearly a huge part of the team, but the Capitals are now a defensive team and will not change their style in the absence of their sniper.

The oddsmakers are not giving the Capitals much of a chance, as the opening line for a Capitals straight win was +155, but this game is a toss up. Flyers rookie goaltender Sergei Brobovsky (probable for tonight) has been slightly inconsistent, but expect that he will play his best tonight. 

With different intentions in mind, this might be a very interesting matchup in the sense that we don't exactly know the motivation levels of either one of these teams.

We can, however, expect that there will probably be minimal errors and mixed intensity; therefore, a low scoring game can be predicted.

With the Capitals already keeping the majority of their games under, the Broad Street Bullies could be tamed in this "not-so" Clash of the Titans.