Flyers

Flyers-Islanders: Game 68 Preview

Kevin Durso Sports Editor

Published09 Mar 2019

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By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor

The Flyers may not have gained ground on Wednesday night, but they did get some help in the standings on Thursday and Friday and the margin back of the final spot remains at seven points.

The Flyers are back on Long Island on Saturday, just six days removed from a 4-1 win over the Islanders, looking to keep things going in their playoff push alive.

Game time is at 7 p.m.

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	New York Islanders	GP	G	A	P
Claude Giroux	67	20	52	72	Mathew Barzal	67	17	36	53
Sean Couturier	65	27	36	63	Josh Bailey	67	14	36	50
Jake Voracek	65	18	41	59	Brock Nelson	67	21	23	44
Travis Konecny	67	21	21	42	Anders Lee	67	23	20	43
James van Riemsdyk	51	19	16	35	Ryan Pulock	67	7	24	31

Player to Watch
93 Jake Voracek	13 Mathew Barzal
Last 5 Games: 3 G, 6 A, 9 P, +1	Last 5 Games: 0 G, 2 A, 2 P, -1

Jake Voracek makes his return to the lineup and brings in a four-game points streak that includes five points over his last two games and three multi-point games.

Mathew Barzal has been held without a goal for nine straight games and has just three assists in that time. Barzal was also a minus-3 against the Flyers on Sunday.

Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	1 Thomas Greiss
21 GP, 9-8-1, 2.65 GAA, .916 SV%	35 GP, 19-10-2, 2.22 GAA, .928 SV%

Brian Elliott lasted only 4:18 into the second period before being pulled after allowing four goals on 19 shots to the Capitals on Wednesday. Despite that, he gets back into the net for Saturday's game against the Islanders. Elliott made 29 saves in Sunday's 4-1 win over the Islanders.

Thomas Greiss entered in relief in Sunday's game and allowed one goal on 13 shots in the 4-1 loss. Greiss started the last game against Ottawa with an injury to Robin Lehner, making 35 saves in a 4-2 win.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Carter Hart, Michal Neuvirth

Scratches: Andrew MacDonald, Sam Morin

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
23 Oskar Lindblom	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
25 James van Riemsdyk	19 Nolan Patrick	28 Claude Giroux
12 Michael Raffl	21 Scott Laughton	11 Travis Konecny
44 Phil Varone	10 Corban Knight	38 Ryan Hartman
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	6 Travis Sanheim
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	61 Phil Myers
8 Robert Hagg	3 Radko Gudas
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

Jake Voracek is back in and so is Nolan Patrick. Andrew MacDonald will come out of the lineup as the Flyers go back to a 12-forward, six-defensemen lineup.

Islanders Projected Lineup

Injuries: Robin Lehner, Cal Clutterbuck

Scratches: Ross Johnston, Andrew Ladd, Thomas Hickey, Luca Sbisa, Dennis Seidenberg

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
27 Anders Lee	29 Brock Nelson	12 Josh Bailey
18 Anthony Beauvillier	13 Mathew Barzal	28 Michael Dal Colle
14 Tom Kuhnhackl	51 Valtteri Filppula	7 Jordan Eberle
17 Matt Martin	53 Casey Cizikas	47 Leo Komarov
Defense
2 Nick Leddy	24 Scott Mayfield
3 Adam Pelech	6 Ryan Pulock
25 Devon Toews	55 Johnny Boychuk
Goalie
1 Thomas Greiss

Game Notes

Power Play: Flyers (T-19th, T-27th on road), Islanders (26th, 27th at home)
Penalty Kill: Flyers (27th, 24th on road), Islanders (T-14th, T-20th at home)
Recent History vs. Islanders
- Oct. 27, 2018 – Islanders 6, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
- March 3, 2019 – Flyers 4, Islanders 1 (at NYI)
Flyers Leaders vs. Islanders
- Claude Giroux – 47 GP, 17 G, 34 A, 51 P
- Jake Voracek – 37 GP, 5 G, 24 A, 29 P
- James van Riemsdyk – 32 GP, 10 G, 14 A, 24 P
- Brian Elliott – 15 GP, 7-1-6, 2.67 GAA, .910 SV%
Milestone Watch
- Jake Voracek needs two points to reach 500 as a Flyer.