Philadelphia Flyers: Another do or die game ahead

The Flyers are once again facing elimination and may have to do it without at least one top player.

As of right now, there has been no update on the status of Sean Couturier. He left the Flyers last game after colliding knee-to-knee with Mathew Barzal. Joel Farabee, while finishing the game, did take a shoulder to the head as well. He appeared slightly woozy but stayed on.

So the concern is more on Couturier, but there is some on Farabee as well. Michael Raffl skated during warmups of the last game, an indication that he may be available. That would help make the decisions easier for the Flyers.

If Raffl can go, he would potentially jump to that top line spot with Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek. He’s had experience there and it would allow the Flyers to get their other lines the same. If he cannot go, that is where it gets fun.

The team would be bringing in one of the Black Aces into a very important game. It could be as simple as re-inserting Connor Bunnaman. Or as chaotic as seeing Morgan Frost for the first time.

For the Islanders, they are hoping that Barzal is good to go. He took a high-stick off a follow through from Giroux. He would leave the ice and not return. As of Wednesday, he was trending in the right direction. Their hope is that he is likely to be ready.

That would’ve been a huge loss for the Islanders if he was unable to go. There’s still time for that decision, but all signs appear to be good.

So the Flyers will once again have their hands full and potentially without their Selke-finalist center. They will have to dig deep to pull out another win and force a Game Seven. They can’t let the third period collapse happen once again. The Islanders have been one of the best teams in the third period.

If the Flyers manage to have the lead going into it, they have to keep forcing the issue and not siting back. That has been one of their biggest weaknesses. With goals from their top players starting to show up, they could finally be a dangerous team all the way around.

If only Travis Konecny could get on the board in this one. That would do wonders for his confidence and give the team all of its top scorers back.

It’ll be another tough one this evening as the Flyers will once again try to stave off elimination.