Flyers Lineup
Forward lines
James van Riemsdyk – Sean Couturier – Joel Farabee
Scott Laughton – Kevin Hayes – Jakub Voracek
Oskar Lindblom – Claude Giroux – Travis Konecny
Carsen Twarynski – Nolan Patrick – Nicolas Aube-Kubel
Defense pairings
Ivan Provorov – Justin Braun
Travis Sanheim – Philippe Myers
Erik Gustafsson – Nate Prosser
Goaltenders
Carter Hart – Brian Elliot
Scratches
Connor Bunnaman, Michael Raffl, Andy Andreoff, Shayne Gostisbehere
Injuries
Morgan Frost (dislocated shoulder), Robert Hagg (shoulder)
 Game Report
Game Report written by Amy Johnson
Should we pretend that Wednesday night’s game at Madison Square Garden didn’t happen? We’d like to, but it was a performance the Flyers needed to learn from and answer to when they took the ice in Long Island on Thursday night to face the Islanders.
Prior to the game, Alain Vigneault announced that Robert Hagg had sustained a shoulder injury against the Rangers and would be out of the lineup for sometime between two and four weeks. Carsen Twarynski drew into the lineup, as did Nicolas Aube-Kubel.
First Period
The opening five minutes or so of this game was a significant improvement over the previous night. Philadelphia played a simple, but defensively responsible game, to the point of it almost being boring. But after losing 9-0, boring was probably an upgrade.
Philippe Myers looked much improved in the opening frame, getting to pucks first, playing aggressively, and getting his stick down in open lanes.
The Flyers had an opportunity to really spark something when Mathew Barzal took a double minor for high-sticking, but the visiting team couldn’t drum up anything dangerous on the extended power play. Soon after, Aube-Kubel took a roughing penalty that the team thankfully killed off, but his penalties have recently been criticized by Vigneault.
On more than one occasion, the Islanders found iron but nothing got past Carter Hart in net.
Second Period
The last two second periods played by the Flyers were some of the worst frames of hockey we’ve seen in a while. Tonight was just the opposite. Philadelphia came out looking even stronger than they had in the first, and this time the offense was clicking. In particular, Claude Giroux‘s third line.
To begin, Oskar Lindblom ended a 21-game goal drought when he cleaned up a loose puck in the crease. The play was started with a tremendous effort by Travis Konecny along the boards to maintain puck possession.
Joel Farabee came close to potting a goal himself, but rang the puck off the crossbar. Throughout the second period, the Flyers maintained a strong forecheck and sustained offensive zone pressure. New York only managed to rack up five shots on goal in the period.
Lindblom made his presence felt yet again when he won a puck battle below the net and got the puck to Konecny. The winger shoveled the puck up the boards to Nate Prosser at the point, who put a big shot on net. Giroux tipped the puck on the way in, and the Flyers had a 2-0 lead.
Before the horn could sound for intermission, the Flyers had one more goal in them. Kevin Hayes connected with Jakub Voracek on a three-on-two rush and Voracek wired a one-timer past Semyon Varlamov.
Third Period
The importance of the Flyers holding onto their 3-0 lead for another 20 minutes was practically palpable. Philadelphia maintained pressure on the Islanders for the first half of the period, but eventually New York did get on the board with a goal by Michael Dal Colle that Hart should have been able to stop.
As the minutes ticked by, the tension mounted. Could the Flyers maintain their lead and complete the bounceback victory? A late high-sticking penalty against Nolan Patrick meant the team had to knuckle down to keep the Islanders out of their net. Scott Laughton did particularly well on this penalty kill.
But just after the kill was over, New York struck. A goal by Sebastian Aho put the Islanders with a single goal of Philadelphia. Sure enough, they didn’t waste any time tying the game off the stick of Oliver Wahlstrom who was left all along on Hart’s right side.
So it was 3-3 with just over five minutes left in the game. Was this going to end in disappointment again? Not if Lindblom had anything to say about it. He teed up a one-timer to score his second of the night and restore Philadelphia’s lead. It was enough to earn them the win.
What’s Next?
To say the Flyers needed that win would be the understatement of the year. They played a gutsy game, and that third line performed exceptionally well. Hart had some good saves, but he also struggled in the third period. It seems he’s still not quite back to being completely prepared to battle. Philadelphia faces off against the Islanders again on Saturday night.
Plus / Minus
▲ Oskar Lindblom, Travis Konecny, Claude Giroux
▼ Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Carter Hart
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