Observations from the Flyers preseason loss against the Islanders

Despite icing their B-lineup against an NHL-heavy Islanders roster, the Flyers hung in there until the very end.

With two preseason games remaining, there were still a few roster battles that needed to be settled. Thus it made sense that Philadelphia iced the lineup that they did on Monday night. They will play again tomorrow before their preseason finale on Thursday.

Alexei Kolosov makes his debut

With Alexei Kolosov deciding to report to North America after all, now it's time to see him in action. After Ivan Fedotov played just over 31 minutes, Kolosov entered the game. He was tested immediately after a turnover, though only ended up facing two shots in the period.

What was immediately noticeable about Kolosov's game was the fluidity in his movement. He's quick on his skates and did a nice job at finding the puck while being able to look around any screens or traffic in front. That was even more noticeable since two of the goals Fedotov game up were because he wasn't able to get around the traffic in front of him. Kolosov was also quick with the glove and was very sure of himself when making the saves with it.

The Islanders did end up getting a late goal to take the win, but it was a great first impression from Kolosov nonetheless. The plan is for him to remain with the Flyers for a little bit, but also head down to the Phantoms to get acclimated. If all goes well for him, he could be up in Philadelphia at some point. Having a good outing against a mostly NHL roster was a nice start.

Adam Ginning's night to forget

Ginning is one of those prospects who may be running out of time to make an impression. The 2018 second-round pick made his debut toward the end of the 2022-23 season while skating in nine games last year. The Flyers have liked what they have seen from him, but this has not been his best preseason.

But Monday may have hurt his case in claiming an extra spot on defense. Trying to send the puck out of the defensive zone, Ginning's pass was cut off by Anthony Duclair. There was a quick tick-tac-toe pass that ended up back on the stick of Duclair as Fedotov robbed him with the pad.

Ginning was also responsible for the turnover that led to Kyle MacLean's goal in the second period. His pass up the boards was rather soft as the Islanders forecheck was able to steal the puck which ended in MacLean tipping the puck past Fedotov for the 2-1 lead.

Emil Andrae appears to have the inside track for the seventh/eighth as Ginning hasn't done much to help his case lately.

Special teams galore

Taking four penalties in one period is not ideal. Doing so when you're icing a significantly worse lineup than your opponent is asking for trouble. The Flyers were in bend but don't break mode when they took three penalties in eight minutes. They finally broke on the fourth penalty of the first.

It was a deflection in front so not much they could do about it. But they also gave up another power-play goal in the second period that put the Islanders up by two goals. It was the Flyers' fifth penalty of the game. They did redeem themselves by scoring twice on the power play as well.

Anthony Richard, who has had a quietly good camp, opened the scoring for Philadelphia in the second period. Richard was looking to pass the puck toward the slot, but it ended up deflecting off an Islander in front. Rasmus Ristolainen continues his strong preseason to tie the game early in the third period.

Ristolainen snuck down to the faceoff dot seemingly unnoticed and put everything he had into the one-timer. He has goals in back-to-back games. A healthy Ristolainen would be a big help to the Flyers this season.

Other Observations

• Erik Johnson had two assists, giving himself three points in the last two games.
• Getting the call from Lehigh Valley for this game, Brendan Furry scored to cut the deficit to one in the second period.