Flyers Play First of Two Against the Isles

The Flyers fell to Pittsburgh on Friday night to extend their consecutive game losing streak to nine games. Now, Philly is playing the first of two consecutive games against the New York Islanders. This matchup will be held at the UBS Arena in Nassau County while Tuesday nights’ game will be a brief home layover before the Flyers embark on, what could very well be, a grueling four game road trip.

Is this the game that will stop the losing streak from hitting the two-digit mark or will the bad times continue?

Philadelphia Flyers

Record: 7-9-5 (19 points, 7th in Metro)

So yeah, the Flyers are struggling big time right now. Injuries are mounting. It appears that Carter Hart’s confidence is starting to wear off after starting off the year super strong. The team has fallen from near first place to second to last in the division.

Fundamentals are killing the Flyers as of late. While they did not give up a power play goal, they are getting hammered in the faceoff circle, being 30th in the NHL in faceoff percentage.

A few weeks ago, as they began to lose, they plummeted from third in the NHL to 21st overall in goals against. They are 23rd in the league on penalty kill and 28th in taking penalty minutes. It also doesn’t help that they are 29th in goals scored and 31st on the power play.

And then Coach John Tortorella says this:

Well, looking at the Flyers, which at this point are the Lehigh Valley Phantoms starring Kevin Hayes, Tony DeAngelo, Nicolas Deslauriers, and a few other vets, you can see he has a point. The Flyers are committing a lot of turnovers, which lead to goals. They are making mental mistakes, which are leading to no goals by them or being put a man down. These mistakes are costing the team. The focus is always on scoring, but what about defense, faceoffs, forechecking, smart passing? Not only can you can’t score when you do these wrong, but you give the other team opportunities to do what you can’t.

A lot of this is starting to come down on Carter Hart. Hart, a few weeks ago, was in the top five in just about every goaltending category out there. Now, he isn’t in the top 10. With veteran forwards dropping like flies lately, the young guys are stepping up and making mistakes. You could argue that the defense could do more, because they could be. But Hart is being hung out to dry lately. Goalies are a funny breed and if their confidence gets eroded, it can shatter them and their abilities. We’ve waited a long, long time to have a goalie like Hart, and this team better start playing better soon.

But Coach Tortorella is correct. You have to learn from mistakes. Making the same one over and over is the frustrating part. If the young guys can learn from them, they can become stronger. Hopefully they can learn so. The next few weeks are going to be brutal. If they can’t win one of these two against the Isles, it is possible they could lose the next five games as their opponents become very tough (Tampa, NJ, Colorado, Washington, Vegas).

Projected Lineup

Noah Cates – Kevin Hayes – Owen Tippett

Kieffer Bellows – Morgan Frost – Zack MacEwen

Nicolas Deslauriers – Tanner Laczynski – Joel Farabee

Jackson Cates – Lukas Sedlak – Patrick Brown 

Ivan Provorov – Tony DeAngelo

Travis Sanheim – Justin Braun

Nick Seeler – Rasmus Ristolainen

Felix Sandstrom

New York Islanders

Record: 14-8-0 (28 points, 2nd in Metro)

During the offseason, the Islanders let go of head coach Barry Trotz. After winning a Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals, he was released from his contract. He took on the reins of the Islanders, a team that was just a shade of its former glory (sound familiar) and a team that was starting to become a joke. Every good player they developed would be traded away or left as a free agent. Trotz took the team to the Eastern Conference finals during the bubble playoffs after bumping off the Flyers.

This was also a team that didn’t make any big splashes in free agency, having lost out on the Johnny Gaudreau sweepstakes. However, new head coach Lane Lambert, in his first head coaching gig, has turned this team around pretty quick. Expected to be among the bottom dwelling teams of the Metropolitan Division, the “rebuilding” Islanders have shot up to second place ahead of teams that were supposed to lead the division. And unlike the Flyers, November has been good to the Isles as the team has gone 9-4 this month. They are currently riding a three game winning streak.

Mathew Barzal leads the way with 23 points, but has just two goals. In 23 games against the Flyers, he has scored eight goals with 17 assists. Brock Nelson leads the team with 10 goals with 11 added assists. Anders Lee has eight goals with 11 assists.  This is a team that shares the puck and knows how to capitalize on the weaknesses of other teams. The Islanders are eighth in goals scored, seventh in goals against, and seventh on the penalty kill. They aren’t flashy, but they are solid on both sides of the puck.

Kyle Palmieri is out right now; listed as day-to-day with an upper body injury. He’s scored six goals this year. His place in the lineup is taken up 2019 first round pick Simon Holmstrom.

In net is Ilya Sorokin, who is 10-5 this season with a 2.19 GAA (third overall) and a save percentage of .933 (second overall). He has two shutouts this season. Sorokin, in his career, is a brick wall against Philadelphia. He is 7-1-1 in nine games with a goals against average of 1.72 and a save percentage of .938 versus the Flyers. If the Flyers face New York’s backup, the stats aren’t any easier. Semyon Varlamov is 4-3 with a 2.97 GAA and a .914 save percentage.

Projected Lineup

Simon Holmstrom – Mathew Barzal – Oliver Wahlstrom

Anders Lee – Brock Nelson – Anthony Beauvillier

Zach Parise – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Josh Bailey

Matt Martin – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck

Adam Pelech – Ryan Pulock  

Sebastian Aho – Noah Dobson

Alexander Romanov – Scott Mayfield

Semyon Varlamov

Where, When, and How to Watch/Listen

Time: 7:30 PM

Where: UBS Arena

Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia

Radio: 97.5 FM

Live Stream: Fubo Tv

fuboTV has live NHL games on ESPN in which you can stream from your phone, television, and all your favorite devices. This is a service that broadcasts live TV over the internet, no cable required. Watch your favorite teams, network shows, news, and movies on 100+ channels. Plus on-demand entertainment including full TV series. fuboTV is currently available in the United States, Canada, and Spain.