The Flyers defeated the Islanders, 5-2, on Nov. 23 from Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers and Islanders play a home-and-home series starting on Saturday night. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)
Thanks to the glorified skills competition that is the shootout, the Philadelphia Flyers were denied another point in the standings on Thursday at the hands of the Nashville Predators. It marked the team’s third loss in the last four games.
The Flyers are in the midst of a crucial stretch of games against a mix of teams. In some cases, like this back-to-back stretch with the New York Islanders, the Flyers have to deal with a team low in the standings but playing well.
The first game of this home-and-home series is in Philadelphia at Wells Fargo Center. The opening face-off is set for 7 p.m. tonight.
The Islanders feature a solid group of scorers headlined by John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Thomas Vanek. Tavares leads the team with 21 goals and 36 assists. Okposo trails close behind with 19 goals and 27 assists.
Kevin Poulin will likely get the start in goal for the Islanders. Poulin is 10-13-0 with a 3.01 GAA in 23 games this season.
The Flyers are looking to bounce back from a 4-3 shootout loss on Thursday. Brayden Schenn, Andrej Meszaros and Wayne Simmonds scored goals in the loss. Simmonds had three points on the night and has been one of the Flyers best players of late.
In the recent stretch of losses for the Flyers, the third line of Sean Couturier, Matt Read and Vincent Lecavalier have struggled. Lecavalier scored a hat trick against the Islanders on Oct. 26 and Read scored two goals in a game against New York on Nov. 23, so this could be a game where he breaks out of things.
The Flyers will turn to Steve Mason in goal once again. Mason is 19-11-5 with a 2.48 GAA.
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (T-13th, 27th at home), Islanders (T-13th, T-21th on road)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (8th, T-6th at home), Islanders (30th, 29th on road)
- The Flyers have incredible recent success against the Islanders. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, they are 14-2-2 against the Islanders. Since the start of the 2007-08 season, the Flyers are 16-1-2 against the Islanders at home.
- Milestone Watch: Wayne Simmonds needs two goals for 100 in his NHL career. Vincent Lecavalier needs seven points for 900 in his career. Steve Downie is one assist away from 100 in his career.
Flyers scratches: Erik Gustafsson, Hal Gill, Jay Rosehill, Zac Rinaldo
Flyers Projected Lineup
Line 1: Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Jake Voracek
Line 2: Scott Hartnell-Brayden Schenn-Wayne Simmonds
Line 3: Matt Read-Sean Couturier-Vincent Lecavalier
Line 4: Steve Downie-Chris VandeVelde-Adam Hall
D-Pair 1: Kimmo Timonen-Braydon Coburn
D-Pair 2: Nick Grossmann-Mark Streit
D-Pair 3: Luke Schenn-Andrej Meszaros
Goalie: Steve Mason
Where to Watch
TV: TCN
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
Kevin Durso is the lead beat writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
