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Flyers Gameday: 3/21/16 @ NYI |
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PREVIEW: FLYERS @ ISLANDERS
Needing a win to stay in the thick of the wildcard playoff race, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (34-24-12) are in Brooklyn on Monday to take on Jack Capuano's New York Islanders (38-23-9). Game time at Barclays Center is 7:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the fourth of five games between the teams this season. The Islanders earned a 3-1 home win on Nov. 25. The teams played to a 65-minute 3-3 tie at the Wells Fargo Center before the Islanders won via shootout. The Flyers dominated an injury-riddled Islanders team on January 9 at the Wells Fargo Center and skated to a 4-0 shutout behind Steve Mason (20 saves). The teams' scheduled game at Barclays on Jan. 23 was postponed due to the blizzard pummeling the east coast. The game will be made up on April 10.
Following a 4-1 home loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday the Flyers are playing the first game of a back-to-back set that will see them play the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. The Islanders suffered a 3-0 road setback to the Dallas Stars on Saturday evening. They will host the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday.
In the race for the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, the Flyers enter this game three points behind the Detroit Red Wings (36-25-11, 83 points) with two games in hand. Detroit has a 34-32 regulation/overtime win (ROW) tiebreaker advantage in the event of a points tie. Philly is five points behind the Islanders for the higher wildcard seed.
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Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are 8-2-1 over their last 11 games. For the season, the team currently has a 15-14-5 road record and 19-10-7 record at home.
On Saturday, Radko Gudas scored an unassisted goal to give the Flyers a short-lived 1-0 lead. The team wasted a strong 31-save performance by Mason. Pittsburgh's final was an empty netter.
One day after Michal Neuvirth missed his scheduled start against the Penguins, Flyers general manager Ron Hextall revealed that Neuvirth will miss three weeks with a lower-body injury. The team has recalled Anthony Stolarz from the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Mason has appeared in 43 games this season, posting a 17-16-8 record, 2.62 goals against average, .915 save percentage and four shutouts (five regulation shutouts). Neuvirth has appeared in 31 games, posting a 17-8-4 record, 2.28 GAA, .925 save percentage and three shutouts.
Dating back to Jan. 1, Brayden Schenn has posted 33 points (17 goals, 16 assists) in his last 34 games.
Checking left winger Chis VandeVelde will serve the second and final game of an NHL suspension for an elbow to the head of the Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews. Top-pairing defenseman Michael Del Zotto (torn ligaments in his left wrist, suffered on Feb. 13) is out for the rest of the season.
Shayne Gostisbehere has set two franchise records and an NHL record this season: most goals by a Flyers rookie defenseman (16 to date), and longest consecutive-game point streak (15 games) by a Flyers rookie or any rookie defenseman in NHL history. Gostisbehere needs 10 points to match Behn Wilson's franchise rookie defenseman season record of 49 points (set over 80 games in 1978-79). The top four in points are Wilson, Janne Niinimaa (44 points in 77 games in 1996-97), Thomas Eriksson (44 points in 68 games in 1983-84) and Tom Bladon (42 points in 78 games in 1972-73). Gostisbehere is currently fifth.
Team captain Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 18 goals, 41 assists and 59 points in 67 games. He is followed on the Flyers' scoring leader list by Wayne Simmonds (25 goals, 24 assists, 49 points, 129 penalty minutes), Schenn (24 goals, 24 assists, 48 points) and Jakub Voracek (10 goals, 38 assists, 48 points in 60 games). Among Gostisbehere's 16 goals, seven have come on the power play, and four in overtime and he has scored five game-winners overall to go along with 23 assists and 39 points in 52 games. Sean Couturier rounds out the top six with nine goals, 22 assists and 31 points in 52 games.
Islanders Outlook
The Islanders are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games but have lost five of their last six games (1-3-2). The club is an impressive 21-8-4 at home and 17-15-5 on the road. That bodes well for the Islanders because eight of their final 12 games are at Barclays Center.
Saturday's game was scoreless until Cody Eakin put the Stars on the board first in the middle stages of the second period. Patrick Eaves added some third period insurance and, with Thomas Greiss (33 saves on 35 shots) pulled for an extra attacker with three minutes left, Ales Hemsky iced a 3-0 win for the Stars with an empty net goal. The Islanders were unable to solve Kari Lehtonen on 27 shots.
The Islanders are without goaltender Jaroslav Halak (groin). Adam Pelach (shoulder) is also unavailable. Mikhail Grabovski (upper body) and Marek Zidlicky(upper body) are questionable.
John Tavares leads the Islanders with 56 points (26 goals, 30 assists) in 67 games. He's followed by Kyle Okposo (19 goals, 36 assists, 55 points), Frans Nielseon (19 goals, 27 assists, 46 points), defenseman Nick Leddy (five goals, 31 assists, 36 points), Brock Nelson (23 goals, 12 assists, 35 points), Anders Lee (12 goals, 20 assists,32 points) and Josh Bailey (12 goals, 16 assists, 28 points). Thirteen of Cal Clutterbuck's 20 points are via goals. Matt Martin leads the Islanders with 94 penalty minutes and has dressed in all 70 games.
Thomas Greiss has appeared in 34 games, posting a 19-9-4 record, 2.26 goals against average and .928 save percentage.Jean-Francois Berube has made four appearances, with a 1-1-1 record, 2.52 GAA and .924 save percentage.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.57 (20th), Islanders 2.74 (10th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.60 (15th), Islanders 2.46 (8th)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 116/111, Islanders 129/119
Power play efficiency: Flyers 18.5% (16th), Islanders 19.4% (11th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 80.3% (22nd), Islanders 85.1% (2nd)
Shots per game: Flyers 30.5 (8th), Islanders 29.9 (15th)
Shots against per game: Flyers 31.0 (T-25th), Islanders 30.4 (T-19th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.6% (T-8th), Islanders 49.9% (T-17th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
10 Brayden Schenn - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 89 Sam Gagner
93 Jakub Voracek - 52 Nick Cousins - 24 Matt Read
21 Scott Laughton - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White
47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
35 Steve Mason
[65 Anthony Stolarz]
Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev (healthy), R.J. Umberger (healthy) Chris VandeVelde (NHL suspension), Jordan Weal (healthy), Michael Del Zotto (IR, wrist, Michal Neuvirth (lower body).
Islanders
18 Ryan Strome - 91 John Tavares - 29 Brock Nelson
12 Josh Bailey - 51 Frans Nielsen - 21 Kyle Okposo
86 Nikolay Kulemin - 11 Shane Prince - 27 Anders Lee
15 Cal Clutterbuck - 53 Casey Cizikas - 17 Matt Martin
3 Travis Hamonic - 44 Calvin de Haan
2 Nick Leddy - 55 Johnny Boychuk
14 Thomas Hickey - 37 Brian Strait
1 Thomas Greiss
[30 Jean-Francois Berube]
Scratches: Ryan Pulock (healthy), Steve Bernier (healthy), Eric Boulton (healthy), Mikhail Grabovski (questionable, upper body), Marek Zidlicky(questionable, upper body), Jaroslav Halak (groin). Adam Pelach (shoulder).
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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