Game 22 Preview: Flyers head to Brooklyn for a showdown with the Islanders

Photo courtesy of Kate Frese

The Philadelphia Flyers (7-9-5) will look to make two in a row when they travel to Brooklyn for a match up with the hard hitting New York Islanders (10-8-3) on Wednesday night. This is the first of five meetings between the Metropolitan Division rivals and first of three meetings in New York.  Game time is 7:00.

The Flyers are coming off a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over Carolina on Monday. Shayne Gostisbehere scored less than a minute into the extra session after Carolina fought back to tie the game in the third period. The overtime winner was his second goal of the season since being called up from Lehigh Valley. Claude Giroux had a goal and two assists as well.

Giroux leads the team with seven goals and sixteen points. Jakub Voracek sits five points behind in second with 11 points. His 10 assists are tops on the roster.  

Once again, the Flyers will feature a different line up tonight. Sam Gagner looks to be out tonight after suffering a sever facial laceration early in the first period of Monday's game. He will be replaced by Phantoms captain Colin McDonald.  The defense pairings will remain the same. 

Steve Mason, 3-6-4 with a .902 save percentage and a 3.07 goals against average, got the night off on Monday but figures to get the start tonight.

The Islanders are coming off back to back losses to Montreal last weekend.  They are 4-6-0 over their last 10 games and boast a 6-4-2 record on home ice this season.

John Tavares leads the offensive attack with 19 points. His 10 goals are also tops on the team. Kyle Okposo is the team leader in assists with 14.

Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss have seemingly split the goal tending duties right down the middle. Halak has started 11 games while Greiss has started 9. They both have five wins a piece. 

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (24th, 17th on road), Islanders (23rd, 9th at home) 
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (18th, 17th on road), Islanders (11th, 11th at home)
• The Flyers have not won in New York since October of 2013.
• The Flyers went 1-1-2 against the Islanders last season.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Line 1: Michael Raffl-Claude Giroux-Brayden Schenn
Line 2: Matt Read-Sean Couturier-Wayne Simmonds
Line 3: Taylor Leier-Scott Laughton-Colin McDonald
Line 4: Chris VandeVelde-Pierre-Edouard Bellmare-Jakub Voracek

D-Pair 1: Michael Del Zotto-Radko Gudas
D-Pair 2: Nick Schultz-Luke Schenn
D-Pair 3: Shayne Gostisbehere-Brandon Manning

Goalie: Steve Mason

Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev, Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan White, Mark Streit, R.J. Umberger, Sam Gagner

Where to Watch

TV: TCN

Radio: 93.3 FM

Bill Minchin is a contributing writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow Bill on Twitter @wtfd103074