Caps looking to make it 5 wins in a row

The Caps will be looking to win five in a row for the first time since a seven-game streak from December through January tonight when they host Philly at Verizon Center. But to keep the streak going, they'll have to beat the Flyers a little bit short-handed.

As I mentioned earlier, both Eric Fehr (upper-body) and Quintin Laing (flu) will be sidelined, which means defenseman Tyler Sloan will have to shift to left wing for the second time this season.

Jose Theodore, meantime, is expected to start in goal for the Caps. In his last three starts, Theodore has a 2.06 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. In fact, his .914 save percentage is his best since 2003-04 and ranks ninth (among goalies with five or more starts).

Coach Bruce Boudreau wouldn't divulge his lines, so we'll have to wait until closer to game time (perhaps until warmups) to find out if Alexander Semin will be reunited with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

Tonight marks the start of a challenging four-games-in-six nights stretch for the Caps. With so many games in so few days, Boudreau said he's not going to manage game minutes but instead plans to cut back on practice this week. In fact, the Caps might not have another practice this week.

Some other notes and quotes from the morning skate:

*Looks like Flyers sniper Simon Gagne will be out tonight with a lower-body injury that has slowed him all season.

*Asked again about Ovechkin's slew foot and whether the two-time MVP has to be more careful about how he plays, Boudreau said: "He's had 847 hits in his career and that was the second fine for something like that. I think it's few and far between for Alex. If they're going to be looking at guys, there's an awful lot more guys in the league that have done things that they should be looking at a little bit closer. One being a guy we're playing against tonight."

Boudreau, of course, was taking a jab at Flyers captain Mike Richards, who escaped disciplinary action for his hit on Florida's David Booth last week.

*Defenseman Mike Green was wearing a brace on his left knee and was walking a little more slowly than usual after the morning skate. But he said he's fine and will play tonight.

*Boudreau on Flyers Coach John Stevens putting rugged winger Arron Asham on the top line with Scott Hartnell and Richards: "It's hard for them not to put a tough guy on every line. How can they avoid it? They've got a lot of toughness."

*Boudreau said Boyd Gordon could return to practice tomorrow. That's good news for the Caps, who have had faceoff issues in recent games.