After a thrilling overtime victory, the Flyers are back at it looking to take the series lead over the Islanders.
We’ve got a tied series after two games of the second round. The Flyers and Islanders won’t waste any time looking for the lead when this meet this evening. It is the second half of a back to back.
There will be a few lineup decisions for each team to mull over. That includes which goaltenders we will we win net. Semyon Varlamov played just 15:09 so he will almost certainly be back in the Islanders net. He had back to back shutouts and set the Islanders playoff shutout streak record before the three goals.
The questions lies more on what the Flyers will do. For Carter Hart, it would be his third start in four night. It would also be his sixth time in 10 nights. Things get tight in the postseason and it’s not surprising to see goaltenders go back to back.
Looking back to the Montreal series, the fifth game of that series was the third in four nights for Hart. He struggled for awhile in that one.
But with how condensed the schedule has been this postseason, there may be a decision to rest him and throw out Brian Elliott. He last started during the round robin, but did see time during the second game against Montreal.
The Flyers will likely lean towards keeping Hart in, but don’t be surprised if Elliott is announced as the starter either.
More importantly, it will matter most if the Flyers can continue what they showed off during the first period against the Islanders. Their stars finally showed up on the scoresheet as Kevin Hayes potted two early goals. Sean Couturier also grabbed his first of the postseason.
What looked like it could be a Flyers blowout win turned into a collapse when the Islanders stormed back to send the game to overtime in the latter stages of the third period.
While Philadelphia would end up winning the game, it should not have taken overtime to do so. They sat back and let the Islanders gain confidence. Instead of keeping on the forecheck, the Flyers instead went to dumping and chasing. They went away from the flip play that had helped them so many times earlier on.
Getting back to what made them so successful in the first period is how they can take the series lead this evening.