Game 76 Preview: Flyers vs. Islanders

Two struggling teams in dire need of a win to strengthen their respective pushes for a playoff spot will clash on Monday night as the Philadelphia Flyers (36-29-10) take on the New York Islanders (31-27-15) in Philadelphia. Game time at Wells Fargo Center is 7:00 p.m. ET.

The two clubs are in the same boat in terms of trying to muster energy. The Flyers played 15 games in 30 evenings, including a stretch of seven straight games against the top contenders in the Eastern Conference. The Islanders started March on a red-hot run but a California road trip that led into a run of nine games in 17 nights, including a pair of three-in-four gauntlets.

There was an undeniable wear-down effect on both teams, especially given the heightened importance of each and every match. The Islanders are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games. The Flyers have lost four in a row (including defeats at the hands of Montreal and Chicago) to drop to 3-5-2 over the last 10 games.

Other unwanted recent similarities: Both teams are struggling mightily on both ends of special teams. Both teams are having a hard time scoring goals. In the Islanders' case, the club has been held to two goals or less in six of their last 10 games including three shutout losses.

Both teams took a desperately needed off-day on Sunday. After this game, the Flyers will have three open nights on the game schedule before a weekend back-to-back. The Islanders return to action on Tuesday, hosting Chicago.

The Islanders heavily juggled their line combinations as Saturday's 4-1 road loss in Tampa. The Flyers also moved personnel around in the last two games. As such, it's hard to predict how the starting combinations will look for Monday's game until the teams have their respective morning skates (Flyers at the FTC in Voorhees at 10:30 a.m. and the Islanders at Wells Fargo Center at 11:30).

Both teams have a decision to make in net. For the Flyers, the decision is whether to keep going with Samuel Ersson, who has been so-so over the last month and may be fighting the effects of overuse in the second half or rolling the ice in a must-win game by giving 27-year-old Ivan Fedotov his first-ever game in North American pro hockey.

The Islanders' choice is less dramatic but equally important. With a back-to-back set against the Flyers on Monday and Blackhawks on Tuesday, will Semyon Varlamov or Ilya Sorokin get the nod in Philly? Varlamov has started the last two games and hasn't gone three games in a row for two calendar years. Sorokin has phenomenal career stats against the Flyers (9-2-2 with a 1.50 GAA, .949 save percentage and three shutouts) but is winless in his six most recent starts. 

Projected line combinations will be posted as a blog update prior to game time. For an in-depth preview, see Monday's "Five Things" on the Flyers' official website.

*******

FLYERS STARTING LINEUP

71 Tyson Foerster - 14 Sean Couturier - 11 Travis Konecny
74 Owen Tippett - 48 Morgan Frost - 89 Cam Atkinson
27 Noah Cates - 25 Ryan Poehling - 19 Garnet Hathaway
44 Nicolas Deslauriers- 21 Scott Laughton - 86 Joel Farabee

8 Cam York - 6 Travis Sanheim
24 Nick Seeler - 9 Jamie Drysdale
5 Egor Zamula - 77 Erik Johnson

33 Samuel Ersson
[82 Ivan Fedotov]

PP1: Drysdale, Foerster, Frost, Konecny, Tippett
PP2: Zamula, Farabee, Couturier, Laughton, Atkinson


ISLANDERS STARTING LINEUP

27 Anders Lee - 44 Jean-Gabriel Pageau - 14 Bo Horvat
18 Pierre Engvall - 29 Brock Nelson - 21 Kyle Palmieri
53 Casey Cizikas - 13 Mathew Barzal - 20 Hudson Fasching
17 Matt Martin - 32 Kyle MacLean - 15 Cal Clutterbuck

28 Alexander Romanov - 8 Noah Dobson
3 Adam Pelech - 6 Ryan Pulock
2 Mike Reilly - 41 Robert Bortuzzo

40 Semyon Varlamov
[30 Ilya Sorokin]

Join the Discussion: » 460 Comments » Post New Comment

» Lightning Strike Takes Down Jets

» Practice Day, Ersson, Jay Greenberg, A Personal Note

» Flyers Gameday: Game 12 vs. BOS

» Wrap: Brink Lifts Flyers over Blues, 2-1

» Game 11 Preview: Flyers vs. STL