(Photo: Kate Frese)
By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Flyers continue to keep pace in the playoff race, but haven't been able to get much help from the teams in front of them. They enter Sunday down five points on Columbus as the first team out of the playoff picture and seven points behind Pittsburgh and Montreal for the final playoff spot.
The Flyers will face the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon at the start of a difficult week that features three games against the top two teams in the Metro.
Game time is at 3 p.m.
Team Leaders
| Philadelphia Flyers | GP | G | A | P | New York Islanders | GP | G | A | P |
| Claude Giroux | 65 | 19 | 49 | 68 | Mathew Barzal | 64 | 17 | 35 | 52 |
| Sean Couturier | 63 | 26 | 34 | 60 | Josh Bailey | 64 | 14 | 34 | 48 |
| Jake Voracek | 65 | 18 | 41 | 59 | Brock Nelson | 64 | 20 | 23 | 43 |
| Travis Konecny | 65 | 20 | 21 | 41 | Anders Lee | 64 | 22 | 20 | 42 |
| James van Riemsdyk | 49 | 19 | 16 | 35 | Ryan Pulock | 64 | 7 | 24 | 31 |
| Player to Watch | |
| 14 Sean Couturier | 13 Mathew Barzal |
| Last 5 Games: 2 G, 2 A, 4 P, +2 | Last 5 Games: 0 G, 2 A, 2 P, -4 |
| Goalie Matchup | |
| 37 Brian Elliott | 40 Robin Lehner |
| 19 GP, 8-7-1, 2.58 GAA, .917 SV% | 36 GP, 20-10-5, 2.07 GAA, .931 SV% |
Brian Elliott is expected back in goal on Sunday. He suffered the overtime loss in Columbus on Thursday after picking up back-to-back wins against Pittsburgh and Buffalo over the previous week.
Robin Lehner got Friday's game off in a back-to-back for the Islanders. He's been one of the top netminders in the league this season, leading the way with a .931 save percentage and 2.07 GAA. He won his last start on Thursday, making 34 saves on 35 shots against Toronto.
Flyers Projected Lineup
Injuries: Carter Hart, Michal Neuvirth
Scratches: Andrew MacDonald, Sam Morin
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 28 Claude Giroux | 19 Nolan Patrick | 11 Travis Konecny |
| 23 Oskar Lindblom | 14 Sean Couturier | 93 Jake Voracek |
| 25 James van Riemsdyk | 21 Scott Laughton | 38 Ryan Hartman |
| 12 Michael Raffl | 44 Phil Varone | 10 Corban Knight |
| Defense | ||
| 9 Ivan Provorov | 6 Travis Sanheim | |
| 53 Shayne Gostisbehere | 61 Phil Myers | |
| 8 Robert Hagg | 3 Radko Gudas | |
| Goalie | ||
| 33 Cam Talbot |
Lineup Notes
The Flyers are expected to use the same lineup as Friday night.
Islanders Projected Lineup
Injuries: Matt Martin
Scratches: Thomas Hickey, Tom Kuhnhackl, Luca Sbisa, Dennis Seidenberg
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| 27 Anders Lee | 29 Brock Nelson | 7 Jordan Eberle |
| 18 Anthony Beauvillier | 13 Mathew Barzal | 12 Josh Bailey |
| 16 Andrew Ladd | 51 Valtteri Filppula | 47 Leo Komarov |
| 32 Ross Johnston | 53 Casey Cizikas | 15 Cal Clutterbuck |
| Defense | ||
| 2 Nick Leddy | 55 Johnny Boychuk | |
| 3 Adam Pelech | 6 Ryan Pulock | |
| 24 Scott Mayfield | 25 Devon Toews | |
| Goalie | ||
| 40 Robin Lehner |
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (20th, 28th on road), Islanders (25th, 25th at home)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (28th, 24th on road), Islanders (T-14th, 20th at home)
- Recent History vs. Islanders
- Oct. 27, 2018 – Islanders 6, Flyers 1 (at PHI)
- Flyers Leaders vs. Islanders
- Claude Giroux – 46 GP, 17 G, 32 A, 49 P
- Jake Voracek – 37 GP, 5 G, 24 A, 29 P
- Sean Couturier – 31 GP, 6 G, 16 A, 22 P
- Brian Elliott – 14 GP, 6-1-6, 2.79 GAA, .906 SV%
- Milestone Watch
- Radko Gudas needs one point to reach 100 for his career.
- Jake Voracek needs two points to reach 500 as a Flyer.
Where to Watch
TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic
