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Flyers-Islanders Split Squad Recap, Preseason Gameday: 9/21/17 @ BOS

September 20, 2017, 11:48 PM ET [324 Comments]
Bill Meltzer
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • RSSArchiveCONTACT
UPDATE 11:45 AM EDT

Per John Boruk, here is tonight's projected Flyers' lineup:

54 Oskar Lindblom - 28 Claude Giroux - 93 Jakub Voracek
40 Jordan Weal - 51 Valtteri Filppula - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
58 Taylor Leier - 64 Nolan Patrick - 36 Colin McDonald

9 Ivan Provorov - 47 Andrew MacDonald
50 Sam Morin - 48 Robert Hägg
57 Travis Sanheim - 3 Radko Gudas

37 Brian Elliott
[49 Alex Lyon]


UPDATE 10:35 AM EDT

Below is the Flyers roster for Thursday night's game in Boston:

Forwards: Travis Konecny, Sean Couturier, Wayne Simmonds, Michael Raffl, Claude Giroux, Colin McDonald, Valtteri Filppula, Oskar Lindblom, Taylor Leier, Nolan Patrick, Jordan Weal, Jakub Voracek.

Defensemen: Radko Gudas, Ivan Provorov, Andrew MacDonald, Robert Hägg, Sam Morin, Travis Sanheim.

Goalies: Brian Elliott (starter), Alex Lyon.

Per John Boruk, Giroux will center Lindblom and Voracek.

********************

SPLIT SQUAD RECAP: FLYERS WIN IN ALLENTOWN, LOSE IN BROOKLYN

The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders had a pair of 3-2 finals in their split-squad games on Wednesday. At the PPL Center in Allentown, the Flyers prevailed in overtime. At the Barclay Center in Brooklyn, the Islanders hung on to win in regulation. In both games, the team that scored first ultimately lost the game.

In Allentown, there were penalties galore in the first period and 11 power plays overall for the game between the two clubs (Islanders went 1-for-6, Flyers went 2-for-5). A 5-on-3 power play goal by Mathew Barzal in the first period was answered by a pair of Taylor Leier goals on the man advantage in the middle frame. The Flyers were not quite able to close out the game in the third period as Anders Lee scored in the final 24 seconds of regulation to force OT. In the extra frame, Shayne Gostisbehere potted a tape-to-tape pass from Nolan Patrick on a 2-on-1 to end the game.

Leier (two power play goals), Gostisbehere (one goal, one assist) and Dale Weise all finished with multi-point games in Allentown. Patrick and Oskar Lindblom had an assist apiece. Michal Neuvirth played the first 40 minutes, stopping 16 of 17 shots. Defenseman Travis Sanheim played by far his best all-around game of the preseason to date; actually, fellow young defensemen Sam Morin and Robert Hägg also played pretty well.

In Brooklyn, a goal in the opening minute of the first period by Travis Konecny got the Flyers off to a quick start. Devon Toews struck back midway through the first period to knot the game at 1-1. The score remained tied until midway through the third period when Johnny Boychuk gave New York the lead and an Andrew Ladd power play goal late in third period forged a 3-1 edge. Veteran offensive defenseman T.J. Brennan scored on a Flyers power play to cut the gap to 3-2 but the Flyers couldn't find an equalizer. Both sides went 1-for-4 on the power play.

Konecny (one goal, one assist) led the attack for the Flyers. Brennan (power play goal), Will O'Neill (one assist) and Greg Carey (one assist) also got onto the score sheet. Phil Myers logged 18:56 of ice time and was credited with three hits. Alex Lyon went the distance in goal for the Flyers, stopping 26 of 29 shots.

NOTES:

1) Ron Hextall spoke to the media before the game in Allentown. He said that he anticipated making some roster cuts on Thursday. He was not yet sure about how many cuts would be made, deferring the decisions until Thursday morning.

2) While acknowledging that Patrick has done well in some facets (especially on the defensive side of the puck and hasn't played much hockey yet -- this was just his third game since March, counting the Rookie Game -- Hextall said that he'd like to see the highly touted rookie start to assert himself a bit more offensively. Patrick was quiet for the first two periods on Wednesday but started to step up in the third period and carried it over by setting up the game winner.

3) A 5-point postgame analysis from the Allentown game is on the Flyers' official website.

4) The NHL directive to strictly enforce slashing and to make dual faceoff violations on the same draw into a penalty was taken very seriously -- to the point of being overdone and chintzy -- in the Allentown game. No, things are not likely to be called that tightly for long. Heading into Wednesday's games around the NHL, there had already been 302 penalties whistled leaguewide in the preseason. That is bound to be relaxed at some point.

5) The Flyers will have an optional skate on Thursday before departing for their preseason game in Boston. None among NHL roster locks Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, Wayne Simmonds, Sean Couturier, Valtteri Filppula, Ivan Provorov, Radko Gudas, Andrew MacDonald and Brian Elliott played in either of Wednesday's split-squad games in Allentown and Brooklyn. Hextall indicated that some -- but not all -- of these players were likely to play in the game against the Bruins.

6) The blog will be updated when a Flyers roster for the game in Boston is available.
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