Philadelphia Flyers: Better effort needed against Islanders

The first game of a back to back, the Flyers will need a much better outing if they want to even up the series against the Islanders.

Alain Vigneault didn’t mince words when he spoke about the team’s effort this past Monday. While they were some positives to take from the second period, the execution simply wasn’t there for the Flyers.

You aren’t going to win any games when you can’t score even one goal. The Flyers have 11 goals since the opening game of the first round. While they got the four wins they needed in that first round, it wasn’t easy.

The top players still aren’t scoring, but Vigneault is expected to give them another go this afternoon. Meaning that we likely see the same trio on the top line that we saw for most of the first game. We could see some other changes, though.

After Shayne Gostisbehere had one of his best games to close out Montreal, it was the exact opposite against the Islanders. However, it doesn’t seem as if he and Justin Braun have paired well together. It could force the hand of Vigneault to put Robert Hagg back in, though.

James van Riemsdyk could potentially check back into the lineup as well. It would likely be in the bottom six if he is to come back in. There is uncertainty who would come out of the lineup. Not a lot of players stood out positively in the loss in the opening game.

Carter Hart will get the chance to respond to a tough loss. He answered the 5-0 Montreal win with back to back shutouts. And he came away with the win in the final game after the Canadiens won to force a sixth game.

The Flyers have not lost back to back games since the beginning of January. They don’t plan on letting that happen any time soon.