FINAL | Round 2 – Game 3 | Saturday, August 29, 2020

Islanders Lead Series 2-1

Flyers Lineup

Claude Giroux – Sean Couturier – Jakub Voracek

Joel Farabee – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny

James van Riemsdyk – Scott Laughton – Tyler Pitlick

Derek Grant – Nate Thompson – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Ivan Provorov – Matt Niskanen

Travis Sanheim – Philippe Myers

Robert Hagg – Justin Braun

Carter Hart – Brian Elliott

Andy Welinski, Andy Andreoff, Morgan Frost, Egor Zamula, Mark Friedman, Connor Bunnaman, Alex Lyon, Kirill Ustimenko, Oskar Lindblom, Shayne Gostisbehere, Michael Raffl

None

Game Report

Alain Vigneault continues to illustrate why he’s a solid candidate for the Jack Adams Trophy before the teams even dropped the puck on game three of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. As he did throughout the season, Vigneault showed his willingness to shake up lines and the roster in a continual attempt to find exactly the right combination for success.

On this night, Michael Raffl came out of the lineup and Scott Laughton made his way back in. However, it was the change in lines which proved to be key for Vigneault’s team. He slotted Laughton in on the third line, at center, with James van Riemsdyk to his left and Tyler Pitlick to his right. The fourth line’s new look consisted of Derek Grant and Nicolas Aube-Kubel at left and right wing, respectively, with Nate Thompson still at center.

Why were the changes to the bottom six so crucial? They proved to be a pivotal driving force in the opening 20 minutes of play, creating a lot of chances, and getting the game’s first goal. Moreover, the entire Flyers team had speed and controlled the puck through the neutral zone. Laughton protected the puck down low behind the net, winning the board battle, and managed to get it back to Pitlick at the point. Pitlick fired a shot that rang off a few bodies and sticks on the way into the Islanders’ net.

As has been the case in this series, the second period looked nothing like the first, however, and that roster magic worked by Vigneault in the opening frame disappeared for the remaining 40 minutes.

The Islanders found rhythm and speed of their own, creating space for their top six to maneuver. Mathew Barzal almost tied the game when he executed a quick wraparound and sent the puck across the crease through the blue paint and out. But Barzal wasn’t done yet, as he dug the puck out of the corner a few minutes later and dished it to the slot where Matt Martin was all alone and waiting to tie the game.

The Flyers struggled mightily in this period, giving up the puck, defensive breakdowns, and allowing the Islanders to get in on Carter Hart way too much. Just when it looked like Philadelphia would get out of the period relatively unscathed, the Islanders scored with just five seconds remaining to go up 2-1 just before intermission.

It took until the third period for any penalties to occur, two against Robert Hagg for slashing, and one against Anders Lee. Lee also managed to score on one of the two Islanders power play opportunities, which seemed to completely deflate the Flyers bench. 

After the game Vigneault called out his “top-end guys” saying that they need to better, as well as the entire team effort. Frustration was apparent in post-game media availability, as Philadelphia is forced into another situation where there have to defend their “haven’t lost a back-to-back game since January seventh” streak.

Plus / Minus

▲  James van Riemsdyk, Scott Laughton, Nicolas Aube-Kubel

▼  Carter Hart, Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier