Flyers-Islanders: Game 66 Preview

Kevin Durso

March 3 2019

(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

Sean Couturier nears the 30-goal mark again. His goal in the third period of Friday's game was his 26th and he continues to be a strong offensive presence on this team.

The Islanders have been on a roll all season, but skilled forward Mathew Barzal has just one goal and three assists in the last 11 games. Always dangerous with the puck, this could be a game where Barzal combines his speed and skill and burns the Flyers. He had two assists against the Flyers on Oct. 27 in the only other meeting between the two teams.

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.