(SportsNetwork.com) - The Washington Capitals hope to extend their longest winning streak of the season to five games when they visit the rival Philadelphia Flyers for Sunday's matinee at Wells Fargo Center.
Washington picked up its fourth consecutive victory on Saturday afternoon, beating the visiting New York Islanders, 3-2, in a shootout. The hot streak marks the first time the Caps have won four in a row since April 5-11 of last season.
The club hasn't posted five consecutive victories since an eight-game tear from April 2-16, 2013.
Evgeny Kuznetsov scored in the first round of the shootout to lift Washington past the Islanders, who sent the game to overtime thanks to Ryan Strome's marker with just 48 seconds left in the third period.
The extra point gained moved the third-place Capitals within four points of the Isles for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division. Washington enters Sunday tied with the New York Rangers for second place in the division and is one point ahead of fourth-place Pittsburgh in the tight Metro race.
Braden Holtby made 30 saves in regulation and overtime before stopping Frans Nielsen, John Tavares and Ryan Strome in the shootout. Matt Niskanen and Eric Fehr scored in regulation for Washington.
"That would have hurt tonight if we didn't get two [points] out of that," said Niskanen. "It was good that the guys could bear down in the shootout and Holts [Holtby] was outstanding. We played well and it's always nice to win that first one of the back to back."
Philadelphia also is coming off a win on Saturday afternoon, as it dealt the NHL-leading Nashville Predators a 3-2 shootout loss at Wells Fargo Center. It was just the second win in the last six games for the Flyers, but they also gained a point for the 11th time in 12 outings (7-1-4).
Wayne Simmonds and Ryan White scored in regulation for Philly, while Rob Zepp turned aside 20 shots for the Flyers.
"I think we played a good game today, one of our best of the season," said Flyers captain Claude Giroux. "They're a really good team and we were able to handle them today."
Philadelphia, which is four points behind Boston for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, completes a four-game homestand this afternoon. The Flyers are 16-8-5 as the host this season.
The Flyers have fared well against Washington recently, taking five of the last six meetings and posting a 2-1-0 mark in the 2014-15 season series, which ends with today's tilt. The clubs last met on Feb. 8 when Philly grabbed a 3-1 victory and held Washington to just 14 shots. Ray Emery won that tilt after taking over for an injured Steve Mason in the second period.
With Mason still out with a right knee injured suffered in the last meetings with the Caps, Emery is likely to get the start today. Emery is 5-8-0 with a 3.68 goals against average in his career versus Washington.
It's uncertain if Holtby will go on consecutive days on Sunday or if backup Justin Peters will make just his 10th start of the season.
The Caps, who are 16-10-5 as the guest this season, have lost three straight and six of their last seven at Wells Fargo Center.
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