Flyers-Islanders: Game 23 Preview

Team Leaders

Philadelphia Flyers	GP	G	A	P	New York Islanders	GP	G	A	P
Jake Voracek	22	7	20	27	Josh Bailey	21	5	21	26
Claude Giroux	22	9	14	23	John Tavares	21	15	10	25
Sean Couturier	22	12	11	23	Anders Lee	21	11	11	22
Shayne Gostisbehere	19	1	15	16	Mathew Barzal	21	5	15	20
Wayne Simmonds	22	6	7	13	Nick Leddy	21	5	12	17

 

Player to Watch
70 Danick Martel	91 John Tavares
Last 5 Games: 0 G, 0 A, 0 P, E	Last 5 Games: 3 G, 4 A, 7 P, +1

 

After a really strong debut on Wednesday night, keep an eye on Danick Martel. The 22-year-old came close to scoring in his NHL debut and will play in Philadelphia for the first time on Friday afternoon. Martel has the ability to be dangerous in scoring areas, so his first goal or point could be coming sooner than you think.

 

All you need to look at is the overtime effort by John Tavares on Wednesday to know that this is far from an ordinary player. Tavares often gets overlooked in the superstar pool, but shouldn't by any means. When he's on his game, he's as dangerous as any player in hockey. He's certainly on a roll right now too, with seven points in his last five games, including two assists in Wednesday's overtime win.

 

Goalie Matchup
37 Brian Elliott	1 Thomas Greiss
6-5-4, 2.72 GAA, .908 SV%	7-2-2, 3.30 GAA, .906 SV%

It's Brian Elliott's net for now. After entering in relief on Tuesday for Michal Neuvirth, Elliott got the start on Wednesday and made 35 saves in the Flyers overtime defeat and made several big saves just to get it to overtime. He'll get another start on Friday.

Thomas Greiss figures to be back in goal after making 35 saves in the Islanders overtime win against the Flyers on Wednesday. Greiss is on a bit of a hot streak, with the Islanders winning his last four starts. He has allowed 12 goals in that time, but has also faced a lot of shots, making 134 saves on 146 shots in that time. Greiss is also 4-2-2 with a 2.81 GAA in his career against the Flyers.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Injuries: Andrew MacDonald (lower-body)

Scratches: Radko Gudas, Jori Lehtera, Dale Weise

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
28 Claude Giroux	14 Sean Couturier	93 Jake Voracek
12 Michael Raffl	51 Valtteri Filppula	11 Travis Konecny
70 Danick Martel	19 Nolan Patrick	17 Wayne Simmonds
20 Taylor Leier	21 Scott Laughton	40 Jordan Weal
Defense
9 Ivan Provorov	8 Robert Hagg
53 Shayne Gostisbehere	5 Sam Morin
6 Travis Sanheim	23 Brandon Manning
Goalie
37 Brian Elliott

Lineup Notes

With Andrew MacDonald still not ready to return to the lineup, the Flyers will use the same lineup as Wednesday night, including recent callups Sam Morin and Danick Martel.

Islanders Projected Lineup

Injuries: Nikolay Kulemin

Scratches: Shane Prince, Alan Quine, Thomas Hickey, Ryan Pulock

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
27 Anders Lee	91 John Tavares	12 Josh Bailey
16 Andrew Ladd	13 Mathew Barzal	7 Jordan Eberle
29 Brock Nelson	72 Anthony Beauvillier	66 Josh Ho-Sang
25 Jason Chimera	53 Casey Cizikas	15 Cal Clutterbuck
Defense
2 Nick Leddy	55 Johnny Boychuk
44 Calvin de Haan	50 Adam Pelech
4 Dennis Seidenberg	42 Scott Mayfield
Goalie
1 Thomas Greiss

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (17th, T-19th at home), Islanders (T-11th, 15th on road)
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (28th, 27th at home), Islanders (17th, 15th on road) 
• Recent History vs. Islanders
  • Nov. 22, 2017 – Islanders 4, Flyers 3 (OT)
• Flyers Leaders vs. Islanders
  • Claude Giroux – 42 GP, 15 G, 28 A, 43 P
  • Jake Voracek – 33 GP, 5 G, 19 A, 24 P
  • Valtteri Filppula – 18 GP, 6 G, 6 A, 12 P
  • Brian Elliott – 12 GP, 5-1-5, 2.50 GAA
• Milestone Watch
  • Claude Giroux needs one point to reach 600 for his career and three points to pass Rod Brind'Amour for 8th on the Flyers all-time list.

Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic