Game 40 Preview: Flyers and Islanders renew their rivalry

Photo Courtesy of Kate Frese.

The Philadelphia Flyers (17-15-7) welcome John Tavares and the New York Islanders (22-14-5) to the Wells Fargo Center Saturday afternoon. This is third of five meetings between the clubs this season. Game time is 1:00.

The Islanders defeated the Flyers 3-1 in New York on November 25th. They followed that up with a 4-3 shootout victory in Philadelphia on December 8th. 

Steve Mason allowed three goals on ten shots before being replaced early in the second period. Michal Neuvirth stopped all 16 shots he faced until the shootout. 

 

Player to Watch
14 S. Couturier	51 F. Nielsen
Last 5 Games: 3G, 3A, 6P, +6	Last 5 Games: 2G, 3A, 5P, +1

 

Sean Couturier has been on a roll since Michael Raffl and Brayden Schenn were put on his line. Couturier had a goal in the Flyers 4-3 overtime win on Thursday in Minnesota and added a goal and an assist in Tuesday's 4-3 victory over Montreal. He has also been able to continue playing sound in his own end as is evident by his +6 rating over the last five games.

 

Frans Nielsen is often overlooked. Nielsen sits third on the roster behind Kyle Okposo and Tavares. His 14 goals are tied for second on the team. Those 14 goals also matches his out put from last year in just 41 games. 

 

Goalie Matchup
35 Steve Mason	41 Jaroslav Halak
8-10-3, 2.84 GAA, .910 SV%	10-7-3, 2.14 GAA, .923 SV%

Steve Mason returned to the net on Thursday night in Minnesota. Mason stopped 31 shots in the 4-3 overtime win. Mason will look to get his record closer to .500 for the year. This is typically the point of the season when Mason starts to play some of his best hockey and he will look to continue that trend.

Jaroslav Halak lost his last start on Thursday against the Capitals. Halak allowed three goals on 37 shots. He has played very well in his career against the Flyers and will look to continue that Saturday.

Flyers Projected Lineup

Scratches: Jordan Weal, Shayne Gostisbehere, Andrew MacDonald

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
93 Jake Voracek	28 Claude Giroux	17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl	14 Sean Couturier	10 Brayden Schenn
76 Chris VandeVelde	78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare	25 Ryan White
24 Matt Read	21 Scott Laughton	20 R.J. Umberger
Defense
15 Michael Del Zotto	3 Radko Gudas
32 Mark Streit	55 Nick Schultz
82 Evgeny Medvedev	23 Brandon Manning
Goalie
35 Steve Mason

Brandon Manning will be back in the lineup tonight replacing the injured Shayne Gostisbehere. The forwards will remain the same.

Game Notes

• Power Play: Flyers (26th, 26th at home), Islanders (20th, 15th on road) 
• Penalty Kill: Flyers (25th, 20th at home), Islanders  (2nd, 7th on road)
• The Flyers are 5-3-2 in their last ten games overall. 
• Philadelphia is 130-98-26 all time against the Islanders including a 76-38-11 mark at home

Where to Watch
TV: CSN
Radio: 97.5 The Fanatic

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