Three Standout Players In Flyers Shootout Loss To Islanders

These three players stood out the most in the Philadelphia Flyers shootout loss to the New York Islanders.

Fresh off of a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Ottawa Senators on Friday, the Philadelphia Flyers returned home to take on a Metropolitan Division foe in the New York Islanders. The Flyers were hoping to get back into the win column and avoid a three-game losing streak while the Isles looked for their third straight win. Brian Elliott received the start from Head Coach Alain Vigneault and opposed Thomas Greiss for New York. Greiss came into the game with an impressive 1.88 Goals Against Average and .942 save percentage, making it that much more critical for Philly’s offense to capitalize on their chances. It’s also worth noting that Robert Hagg and Chris Stewart entered the game for Philippe Myers and Carsen Twarynski.

The Flyers got off to an excellent start, scoring the game’s first goal just 1:38 into the period thanks to an absolute snipe from Sean Couturier. Oskar Lindblom ignited the play by stripping Johnny Boychuk of the puck, moving his way into the offensive zone, and finding Coots with a beautiful cross-ice pass for the centerman’s sixth goal of 2019-20. Philadelphia would go on to double their lead late in the first on the power-play, as Ivan Provorov blasted a shot past Greiss from the point for his fourth goal of the season.

New York controlled play for more than half of the second, and at one point, carried an eight to one shots-on-goal advantage in the frame. The Flyers were still somehow able to extend their lead to three through all of the Islander pressure, as Lindblom scored from the top of the left circle to give his team a 3-0 lead heading into the third.

Anthony Beauvillier got the Islanders back within two about seven minutes into the final period of regulation, sneaking a shot through Elliott’s five-hole for his fifth goal of the year. Mat Barzal followed it up with a power-play tally, cutting the Flyers lead to one with a one-timer from the slot. Philadelphia eventually let Beauvillier net his second goal of the period, blowing a three-goal lead while allowing New York to send the game to extras, where they won in a shootout.

Even though the Flyers completely blew this game in a gut-wrenching fashion, I still liked what I saw from the Couturier, Lindblom, and Joel Farabee line overall. The trio combined for five points on the night, with Coots and Lindblom accounting for four of them with a goal and an assist each. Their underlying stats weren’t overly impressive and actually ranked second to last among all Flyers lines in most of the categories at 5-on-5.

However, they still put themselves on the scoresheet with consistency and cashed in on the chances they did create, which is something the rest of the combinations can’t say. I wouldn’t mind seeing Vigneault keep this line together to let Couturier and Lindblom gain chemistry with Farabee, but understand if he opts to reunite the CLiK.

The Flyers are now 10-6-4. Next game is Tuesday against the Florida Panthers.