PREVIEW: FLYERS VS. ISLANDERS
Returning home for the first of a three-game homestand, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (17-15-7) host Jack Capuano's New York Islanders (22-14-5) in a Saturday matinee. Game time at the Wells Fargo Center is 1:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the third of five meetings this season between the Metropolitan Division teams and the second and final game in Philadelphia. The teams will rematch on Jan. 23 and March 21 in Brooklyn.
On Nov. 25 in Brooklyn, the Flyers got off to a good start but were unable to build on it. Kyle Okposo's fluky early second period goal that deflected off Flyers defenseman Nick Schultz proved to be the game winner in a 3-1 decision. On Dec. 8 at the Wells Fargo Center, Okposo was credited with the winning goal in a 4-3 final via shootout after the Flyers had two opportunities to get the bonus point.
The Flyers last played on Thursday, earning a 4-3 overtime win in Minnesota. After this game, Philly has a three-night schedule break before hosting the Boston Bruins in an NBCSN Wednesday Night Rivalry game.
The Islanders sustained a 4-1 home loss to the Eastern Conference leading Washington Capitals on Thursday night. After this game, the Islanders have two nights off before hosting the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Flyers Outlook
Philadelphia earned a costly overtime win over the Wild, getting regulation and overtime goals by Michael Del Zotto as they overcame blown leads of 1-0 and 3-1. Sean Couturier and Ryan White also scored, while Steve Mason was brilliant at times -- especially in the third period and overtime -- in turning back 31 of 34 shots to earn the win.
The win, however, came at the price of losing standout rookie defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere. The 22-year-old, who leads all first-year defensemen in the NHL in scoring, left the game in St. Paul with an apparent right knee injury. Gostisbehere will not play against the Islanders. A further update is expected over the weekend. As of Friday night, the Flyers had not recalled a defenseman from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Flyers team captain Claude Giroux leads the club with 12 goals, 18 assists and 30 points in 39 games. He is followed on the Flyers' scoring leader list by Jakub Voracek (four goals, 22 assists, 26 points), Wayne Simmonds (10 goals, 12 assists, 22 points, 84 penalty minutes) and Brayden Schenn (nine goals, 12 assists, 21 points). Couturier rounds out the top five with eight goals, 10 assists and 18 points. Offensive-minded rookie defenseman Gostisbehere has contributed seven goals (four on the power play, three in overtime), nine assists and 16 points.
Newly acquired center Jordan Weal had his first practice with the team on Friday. If Hakstol elects to make any lineup changes following back-to-back wins, Weal could make his Flyers debut against the Islanders.
Islanders Outlook
The Islanders have faced some tough opponents lately -- with mixed results -- but this is just the fourth game the team will play over the first 12 nights of January. On Jan. 3, the Isles prevailed in a wild 6-5 regulation home decision against the Dallas Stars. On Thursday, however, New York sustained a 4-1 home loss to the Capitals to fall to 1-2-0 thus far in January.
In Thursday's game, the Caps took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission and never looked back. An early second period goal by Brock Nelson temporarily narrowed the gap back to one goal but the Caps retored their two-goal margin by the end of the frame and went on to outshoot the Isles for the game by a 38-35 total. Jaroslav Halak stopped 34 of 37 shots in a losing cause before Washington tacked on an empty net goal to seal the game.
Okposo, who is under the weather but expected to play, has 10 goals and 31 points in 39 games to lead the Islanders. He is followed by John Tavares (team-leading 15 goals, 14 assists, 29 points), Frans Nielsen (14 goals, 13 assists 27 points), Nelson (14 goals, nine assists, 23 points), Josh Bailey (seven goals, 12 assists, 19 points), Mikhail Grabovski (six goals, 13 assists, 19 points) and Anders Lee (six goals, 13 assists, 19 points).
Cal Clutterbuck, who has knack for getting underneath opponents' skin, had a two-goal game against the Stars last weeked to bring his season goal total to nine. Earlier this season, Clutterbuck took second star of the game honors when the Flyers visited Barclays Center for the first time. His most notable contribution was beating Voracek wide and then feeding a wide open Casey Cizikas for a momentum-shifting shorthanded goal late in the first period.
In both games the Flyers have played against the Islanders this season, the aggressive physical play of Matt Martin has raised Philly's ire at some point. In the first game, Martin got Simmonds to drop the gloves. The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Martin leads all players in the NHL with 193 credited hits to date.
The Islanders remain without their best all-around defenseman, as Johnny Boychuck is on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. On Friday, the Islanders recalled defenseman Scott Mayfield from the AHL's Bridgeport Sound Tigers and placed Eric Boulton (undisclosed injury) on injured reserve, retroactive to Jan. 2.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.20 (T-28th), Islanders 2.71 (10th) Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.69 (T-19th), Islanders 2.46 (11th) 5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 54/60, Islanders 73/69 Power play efficiency: Flyers 16.5% (T-27th), Islanders 18.3% (20th) Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 78.2% (25th), Islanders 85.8% (2nd) Shots per game: Flyers 30.2 (12th), Islanders 29.9 (14th) Shots against per game: Flyers 32.4 (29th), Islanders 30.6 (21st) Faceoff percentage: Flyers 49.5% (21st), Islanders 50.0% (15th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
93 Jakub Voracek - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds 12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 10 Brayden Schenn 76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White 24 Matt Read - 21 Scott Laughton - 20 R.J. Umberger
15 Michael Del Zotto - 3 Radko Gudas 55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit 23 Brandon Manning - 82 Evgeny Medvedev
35 Steve Mason [30 Michal Neuvirth]
Scratches: Shayne Gostisbehere (knee), Jordan Weal (healthy).
Islanders
27 Anders Lee - 91 John Tavares - 12 Josh Bailey 29 Brock Nelson - 51 Frans Nielsen - 21 Kyle Okposo 86 Nikolay Kulemin - 84 Mikhail Grabovski - 18 Ryan Strome 17 Matt Martin - 53 Casey Cizikas - 15 Cal Clutterbuck
2 Nick Leddy - 44 Calvin de Haan 14 Thomas Hickey - 37 Brian Strait 42 Scott Mayfield - 50 Adam Pelech
41 Jaroslav Halak [1 Thomas Greiss]
Scratches: Steve Bernier (healthy), Marek Zidlicky (healthy), Johnny Boychuck (IR, upper body), Travis Hamonic (lower-body injury), Eric Boulton (IR, undislosed), Jean-Francois Berube (IR, lower body).