GAME 9: FLYERS vs. ISLANDERS
Returning home from a four-game road trip (2-1-1) to Boston and New Jersey, Alain Vigneault's Philadelphia Flyers (5-2-1) host Barry Trotz's New York Islanders (3-4-0) at the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night. Game time is 7:00 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on NBCSP.
Saturday's game is the first of a quick back-to-back set with a Sunday rematch at 7:00 p.m. ET. Thereafter, the teams will play each other again on March 18 and 20th in Long Island, April 3 in Long Island, April 8 in Long Island and conclude the season series back in Philadelphia with games on April 18 and 25.
Last season, the Flyers went 0-2-1 in their three regular season games against the Islanders. The teams subsequently met in the Eastern Conference Semifinal with the Islanders prevailing in seven games. For an in-depth look at the Islanders' off-season moves and the history of their rivalry with Philadelphia,
click here.
Flyers Outlook
A solid third period, strong goaltending, a 4-for-4 night on the penalty kill and some timely plays from role players proved to be the difference as the Philadelphia Flyers earned a 3-1 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Thursday night.
Making his Flyers debut and playing his first game in the NHL in two seasons, 34-year-old Nate Prosser unexpectedly scored his 11th career goal in his 355th game in the league. He also logged four minutes of penalty killing time, and blocked three shots in his 13:12 of ice time.
The Flyers fourth line trio of Michael Raffl, Connor Bunnaman and Nicolas Aube-Kubel was rewarded by head coach Alain Vigneault with extensive third period ice time. They also contributed what proved to be the game-winning goal at 2:10 of the third period as Raffl (2nd goal of the season) potted the rebound of a Bunnaman shot off the post.
A healthy scratch in Tuesday's game against the Devils, Erik Gustafsson bounced back from an early game coverage gaffe on Devils defenseman Damon Severson (1st) and drew assists on goals by Prosser and Claude Giroux (1st). The latter was a slap pass that Giroux re-directed into the net. Jakub Voracek also got an assist on the play. The first was a point shot that James van Riemsdyk tipped and rebounded to Prosser off a set play that started with a Kevin Hates faceoff win.
Carter Hart stopped 33 of 34 shots fired on his net. He's had an inconsistent start to his 2020-21 season, much like the team as a whole, but was excellent in Thursday's win.
Through eight games, Voracek leads the Flyers with nine points (1g, 8a). Hayes (3g, 5a), van Riemsdyk (5g, 3a), Travis Konecny (5g, 3a) and Claude Giroux (1g, 7a) are all tied with eight points.
The Flyers have been at an overall territorial, shot attempt and quality of scoring chance disadvantage in most games this season. The saving graces have been offensive opportunism, sometimes the power play, often the goaltending and, in three of their wins, the penalty kill.
Hart and Brian Elliott will split the two games this weekend with the Islanders. With Friday being an off-day to get some rest in the middle of a stretch of three games in four nights, it is not yet known which goalie will get which game.
Phil Myers (rib injury) has been upgraded from week-to-week to day-to-day status after returning to practice on Wednesday. He likely will not be ready for this weekend but could be back within the next week barring setbacks.
Sean Couturier (ribs) has been skating with Flyers skills coach Angelo Ricci -- and was joined by Myers on Friday, along with taxi squad left winger Samuel Morin -- but is still about two weeks from being ready to play, per Vigneault.
Morgan Frost (dislocated left shoulder) is on injured reserve and has yet to skate since getting injured on Jan. 19.
Islanders Outlook
The Islanders got off to a 3-1-0 start but have lost each of their last three games in regulation. Is now the best possible time for the Flyers to face New York in a back-to-back or the worst? That remains to be seen, because neither team is playing all that well right now despite the Flyers' favorable overall record.
On Thursday night, the visiting Islanders built a 3-0 lead in the first period against the Washington Capitals only to go on to lose the game, 6-3. The second period was a five-goal disaster for the Isles, especially over the latter half of the period.
Before the roof caved in, the Islanders got goals from Oliver Wahlstrom (1st), fourth line center Casey Cizikas (1st) and team captain Anders Lee (power play, 3rd). The Lee goal was set up by Mathew Barzal (4th assist of the season).
By the time the night was done, however, a frustrated Barzal was done for the night early on a late-game 10-minute misconduct. Semyon Varlamov was strafted for five second period goals on 14 shots and finished with 17 saves on 22 shots before Tom Wilson tacked an empty-netter onto the Caps' final margin of victory.
Overall, goal scoring has been a challenge for the Islanders so far. The team has scored a combined 14 goals over its seven games played to date. The power play has been sputtering, although it was 1-for-3 on Thursday.
On the brighter side, even with yielding six to the Caps last game, the Isles have allowed only 17 goals to date. The PK percentage took a hit on Thursday, dropping to 78.4 percent overall after a 1-for-3 night but had only been beaten three times total over the first six games.
The Isles have been pretty close to break even in unblocked five-on-five shot attempts (48.7 percent team Fenwick) and quality of chances (49.84% expected goals share). So while their process has not been up to the standards established early last season and then during the playoffs, it is not as far off track as it may seem based off the team's record and low output of goals.
Varlamov (3-2-0, 1.82 GAA, .936 SV%, two shutouts) has made five of the seven starts in goal so far, with Ilya Sorokin (0-2-0, 3.57 GAA, .875 SV%) getting the other two. Being in the midst of a road three-in-four with a Saturday/Sunday back-to-back, Trotz will likely split the goalie work this weekend with one start apiece. It should be noted, however, that veteran Cory Schneider served as Varlamov's backup on Thursday with Sorokin being placed on the taxi squad.
Anthony Beauvillier suffered a leg injury on Jan. 23 and was played on injured reserve.
Projected lineups (Subject to change)
FLYERS (Thursday's lineup)
23 Oskar Lindblom - 13 Kevin Hayes - 25 James van Riemsdyk
28 Claude Giroux - 19 Nolan Patrick - 93 Jakub Voracek
55 Samuel Morin - 21 Scott Laughton - 86 Joel Farabee
12 Michael Raffl - 82 Connor Bunnaman - 62 Nicolas Aube-Kubel
9 Ivan Provorov - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
6 Travis Sanheim - 5 Phil Myers
56 Erik Gustafsson - 61 Justin Braun
79 Carter Hart
[37 Brian Elliott]
PP1: Giroux, Hayes, Voracek, JVR, Provorov
PP2: Lindblom, Patrick, Farabee, Sanheim, Gostisbehere
Scratches: 14 Sean Couturier (costochondral separation), 11 Travis Konecny (healthy), 48 Morgan Frost (IR, dislocated shoulder), 3 Mark Friedman (healthy), 8 Robert Hägg (healthy).
ISLANDERS
27 Anders Lee - 13 Mathew Barzal - 7 Jordan Eberle
47 Leo Komarov - 29 Brock Nelson - 12 Josh Bailey
20 Kieffer Bellows - 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau - 26 Oliver Wahlstrom
17 Matt Martin - 53 Casey Cizikas - 15 Cal Clutterbuck
3 Adam Pelech - 6 Ryan Pulock
2 Nick Leddy - 24 Scott Mayfield
4 Andy Greene - 8 Noah Dobson
40 Semyon Varlamov
[35 Cory Schneider]
PP 1: Lee, Barzal, Eberle, Dobson, Pulock
PP 2: Wahlstrom, Nelson, Pageau, Bailey, Leddy
Scratches: 18 Anthony Beauvillier (leg, IR), 25 Sebastian Aho (healthy), 28 Michael Dal Colle (healthy), 2 Ross Johnston (healthy).
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