Adam Hall was one of five goal scorers in the Flyers 6-4 win over the Islanders on Saturday. (Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)
It is a rare Monday matinee for the Philadelphia Flyers on this holiday weekend. For the Flyers, fresh off a 6-4 win on Saturday night, the opponent is familiar. The New York Islanders await again, this time on their home ice at Nassau Coliseum.
The Flyers picked up their 25th win of the season on Saturday, which for Jan. 18 is impressive considering a 1-7-0 start to the season. What is not impressive is the way the Flyers have had to battle back in games. Despite their ninth comeback win of the season, Craig Berube was not happy with the team's performance.
One player looking to redeem a bad performance is Steve Mason. In all reality, the newly extended goalie did not play poorly at all on Saturday. Berube called Mason the victim after pulling him during the second period of the Flyers comeback win to send a message to his team. It seems likely that Mason, who did not receive a decision in Saturday's game, will start again.
The Flyers top line surged to score the game-tying and game-winning goals in the third period. Claude Giroux assisted on both as Jake Voracek and Michael Raffl picked up the tallies.
Andrej Meszaros scored the team's first two goals while Adam Hall and Matt Read both added goals as well.
For the Islanders, it seems likely they go back to Kevin Poulin in goal. However, it wouldn't be shocking if they decided on Anders Nilsson.
John Tavares, Cal Clutterbuck, Brock Nelson and Brian Strait all scored in the Islanders loss on Saturday. Obviously, other viable scoring threats like Thomas Vanek, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Michael Grabner are keys for the Islanders.
Game Notes
- Power Play: Flyers (16th, 5th on road), Islanders (T-17th, 9th at home)
- Penalty Kill: Flyers (7th, T-7th on road), Islanders (30th, 27th at home)
- The Flyers have incredible recent success against the Islanders. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, they are 15-2-2 against the Islanders. The Flyers have already defeated the Islanders on the road on Nov. 30, 5-2, with Vincent Lecavalier scoring a hat trick.
- 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, Chris Vandevelde, 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-Adam Hall-Jay Rosehill
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: CSN
Radio: 93.3 WMMR
Kevin Durso is the lead beat writer for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on twitter @KDursoPhilsNet.
