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Flyers Gameday: 1/18/14 vs. New York Islanders; Stolarz Update

January 18, 2014, 6:46 AM ET [815 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
FLYERS VS. ISLANDERS GAME PREVIEW (5:15 A.M. EST)

In the front end of a home-and-home set, the Philadelphia Flyers (24-19-5) play host to the New York Islanders (19-23-7). Game time is 7:00 p.m. EST. The match will be televised locally on CSN Philly.

This is the third of four meetings between the teams this season, and the second and final one in Philadelphia.

On Oct. 26, a struggling Flyers team captured a 5-2 road win over the Isles to improve their early season record to 3-7-0. The match marked the first time in the 2013-14 that the Flyers scored more than two goals in a a game. Vincent Lecavalier notched a hat trick on a power play goal and a pair of even strength tallies. Jakub Voracek lit the lamp for the first time in the 2013-14 season, and Matt Read added an empty net goal. Victorious goaltender Steve Mason made 26 saves.

On Nov. 23, the Flyers won at home by an identical 5-2 score after a scoreless opening period. Matt Read scored a pair of goals, while Wayne Simmonds, Claude Giroux (power play) and Brayden Schenn contributed single tallies and Jakub Voracek provided spectacular assists on the Giroux and Schenn goals. Mason turned back 36 of shots to improve his season save percentage at the time to .933, and lower his goals against average to 2.11.

After tonight's game, the teams will rematch on Long Island on Monday afternoon. The Flyers will be right back in action on Tuesday, returning home to play the Carolina Hurricanes.

FLYERS OUTLOOK

On the heels of a 10-game home winning streak, the Flyers have lost each of their last two home matches. Overall, they are 1-2-1 in their last four games.

Early in the 2013-14 season, the Flyers were getting lights out goaltending (especially from Mason) and demonstrating significantly improved team defense. The problem in the first six weeks was a severe lack of goal scoring.

Since the start of December, the trend has reversed. The Flyers have been scoring with regularity, ranking near the top of the NHL in goals per game over the last seven weeks. However, team defense has gone south and the goaltending has been average on many nights.

Philly has a 4-3-1 record thus far in January. The team has scored three or more regulation goals in six of the eight games (4-1-1 record). They have allowed three or more regulation goals in five games (2-2-1 record), including each of the last four.

The Flyers are coming off a 4-3 home shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday night. An early first-period goal by Brayden Schenn gave the Flyers a quick lead but the team spent much of the night playing from behind until an Andrej Meszaros goal in the final five seconds of the second period tied the game at 2-2 and a Simmonds power play goal in the final two minutes of the third period sent the game to overtime.

Mason turned back 34 of 37 shots in regulation and overtime. In the shootout, he stopped the first four Nashville shooters before yielding goals to each of the last three. Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier were the only two of seven Philadelphia shooters to score.

On a nearly annual basis in recent year, the Flyers have dominated the season series with the division rival Islanders. Philly enjoys a record of 29-3-2 in the last 34 games with the Islanders, including a 16-1-2 mark in the last 19 games played at the Wells Fargo Center.

On the injury front, Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain) is slated to remain out of the lineup until after the Olympic break.

ISLANDERS OUTLOOK

Head coach Jack Capuano's job appeared to be in imminent jeopardy a few weeks ago, with the club sputtering. However, the club has played much better hockey since the calendar flipped to January. The Isles are 6-2-0 this month.

New York is coming off a 2-1 road shootout win against Tampa Bay on Thursday. Thomas Vanek's late second period power play goal knotted the score at 1-1. After a scoreless third period and overtime, opening round shooter Frans Nielsen scored the first and only goal for either side. Kevin Poulin (30 saves in regulation and overtime) stopped Valtteri Filppula, Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman in succession to backstop his club to a second point.

John Taveras has returned of late to the form that made him a Hart Trophy finalist last season. In the 10 games since the Christmas break, Tavares has racked up eight goals, 10 assists and 18 points. For the season, he has lifted his team-leading totals to 21 goals, 36 assists and 57 points in 49 games.

The Islanders and Flyers have scored goals at about the same pace this season. However, New York is more top-heavy than the Flyers have been.

Apart from second line center Frans Nielsen (17 goals, 41 points), scoring depth behind the Tavares line has been a problem for the Islanders for much of the season. Beyond the team captain and linemates Kyle Okposo (19 goals, 46 points) and Vanek (13 goals, 32 points in just 33 games), the drop-off is severe after Nielsen.

No other Isles player has reached double-digit goals yet. Defenseman Andrew MacDonald (three goals, 22 points) is the only other Islanders player with more than 15 points on the season.

The team needs players such as speedy former 34-goal scorer Michael Grabner (seven goals, 15 points) to contribute more offensively. Grabner recently notched goals in back-to-back games but has gone pointless in the last three matches and, at one point this season, went 32 games without a goal after scoring a pair on opening night.

Spotty goaltending and so-so team defense have been the Islanders biggest problems over the course of the season. For the bulk of the season, poor penalty killing has been an Achilles heel that has cost the Islanders numerous games this season. Coming into tonight's game, the Islanders have killed penalties at a 75.2 percent rate.

On the injury front, Travis Hamonic is sidelined with an upper body injury that could be a concussion. Veteran defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky (concussion) and veteran goalie Evgeni Nabokov (lower body) remain on injured reserve.


KEY STAT COMPARISONS (NHL OVERALL RANKING)

Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.60 (16th), Islanders 2.63 (15th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.75 (17th), Islanders 3.14 (28th)
Even strength Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 0.90 (20th), Islanders 0.85 (24th)
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.68% (15th), Islanders 18.71% (14th, nrounding)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 84.4% (7th), Islanders 75.2% (14th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.2% (19th), Islanders 46.7% (27th)


PROJECTED LINEUPS (Subject to change)

FLYERS

12 Michael Raffl - 28 Claude Giroux - 92 Jakub Voracek
19 Scott Hartnell - 10 Brayden Schenn - 17 Wayne Simmonds
24 Matt Read - 14 Sean Couturier - 40 Vincent Lecavalier
9 Steve Downie- 76 Chris VandeVelde - 18 Adam Hall

44 Kimmo Timonen - 5 Braydon Coburn
8 Nicklas Grossmann - 32 Mark Streit
41 Andrej Meszaros - 22 Luke Schenn

35 Steve Mason
[29 Ray Emery]

Potential Scratches: Jay Rosehill (healthy), Hal Gill (healthy), Erik Gustafsson (healthy), Zac Rinaldo (high ankle sprain), Chris Pronger (LTIR, post-concussion syndrome).

ISLANDERS

26 Thomas Vanek - 91 John Tavares - 21 Kyle Okposo
12 Josh Bailey - 51 Frans Nielsen - 16 Peter Regin
40 Michael Grabner - 29 Brock Nelson - 15 Cal Clutterbuck
17 Matt Martin - 53 Casey Cizikas - 13 Colin McDonald

37 Brian Strait - 47 Andrew MacDonald
44 Calvin de Haan - 46 Matt Donovan
4 Radek Martinek - 14 Thomas Hickey

60 Kevin Poulin
[45 Anders Nilsson]

Potential Scratches: Travis Hamonic (upper body), Eric Boulton (healthy), Matt Carkner (healthy), Evgeni Nabokov (IR, lower body), Lubomir Visnovsky (IR, concussion).

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STOLARZ CUT BY SKATE

Flyers goaltending prospect Anthony Stolarz suffered a frightening injury in last night's Ontario Hockey League game between his London Knight's club and Saginaw spirit. At the 3:42 mark of the first period, Saginaw center Eric Locke accidentally landed on the back of Stolarz's leg with his skate, causing a severe cut.

Here is video of the incident:



Thankfully, Stolarz's injury appears to be much less severe than the one sustained last season, by Flyers forward prospect Eric Wellwood. In an April 7 American Hockey League game, Wellwood's achilles tendon was 70 percent severed and three additional tendons were completely severed when he was sliced by his own skate blade. The player, who was signed to a minor league contract as a restricted free agent last summer, has not played a game this season.

Stolarz, who lost a large amount of blood, was taken off on a stretcher and brought to a hospital in London, Ont. Several hours later, the player posted the following on his Twitter account:




In order to prevent accidents such as the one last night in London, goaltenders are supposed to wear kevlar socks (or similar guards) to protect the backs of their legs from wayward skate blades. Based on the severity of the laceration, it is unlikely that Stolarz took the safety precaution.

Some leagues require goaltenders are required to wear leg guards underneath their uniforms, and all recommend it. In reality, many goalie opt not to so for comfort.

Stolarz, the Flyers second-round pick (45th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft,has posted a 21-4-2 record for the Knights this season, with a 2.59 goals against average, .925 save percentage and three shutouts.

The 6-foot-6 native of Jackson, NJ was a member of Team USA at the recent World Junior Championship in Malmö, Sweden. In his lone appearance in the tournament, Stolarz recorded a 15-save shutout in an 8-0 romp over Germany.

The goaltender, who is already under entry level contract with the Flyers, will turn 20 years old on Monday. Although the player will likely need additional seasoning before he is ready for the NHL, Stolarz has already come a long way since he was drafted out of the NAHL and briefly played collegiate hockey for the University of Nebraska at Omaha before opting to go to the OHL with London.

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