Flyers Lineup

James van Riemsdyk – Sean Couturier – Joel Farabee

Scott Laughton – Kevin Hayes – Travis Konecny

Oskar Lindblom – Claude Giroux – Jakub Voracek

Michael Raffl – Nolan Patrick – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Ivan Provorov – Shayne Gostisbehere

Travis Sanheim – Justin Braun

Erik Gustafsson – Philippe Myers

Brian Elliott – Alex Lyon

Carter Hart, Nate Prosser, Carsen Twarynski, Connor Bunnaman, Andy Andreoff,

Morgan Frost (dislocated shoulder), Robert Hagg (shoulder)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

It’s not been an easy road for the Philadelphia Flyers of late, with more disappointing and downright frustrating performances than uplifting or hopeful ones. Saturday night’s return to poor defense, struggles in goaltending, and overall collapse after putting together a significantly improved game the night before was a stark reminder that there are big issues with the current roster and not a lot of time to fix them.

With the team returning to home ice on Monday night for one last tilt against the New York Islanders to cap off the three-game series, Alain Vigneault tweaked his lineup once again. Shayne Gostisbehere drew back in for Nate Prosser, and Brian Elliott started in net, with Carter Hart slated to start on Tuesday night against the Devils.

Additionally, the Flyers announced that Sean Couturier‘s MRI revealed an aggravation to an old hip injury, making the center a game-time decision. Vigneault said he felt confident that Couturier would be good to go, and he was right.

First Period

The opening period displayed almost everything the Flyers needed to come out and do in this game. They vastly outshot the Islanders 12-4, and did so by playing with energy, staying strong on the forecheck, and getting sustained offensive zone pressure, particularly in the first half of the period.

It was just the score that turned out to be lacking at intermission: neither team managed to light the lamp, but not for a lack of trying on the Philadelphia side. Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin stoned Nolan Patrick at least twice, and also denied dangerous scoring chances by Couturier and Travis Konecny. Without his strong play in the crease, the Flyers could have easily had a two- or three-goal lead after 20 minutes.

Just one penalty was called in the period, a roughing minor against Konecny, but Philadelphia killed it off effectively. The only side effect from it seemed to be a switch to a more defensive game for Philadelphia in the second half of the period.

Second Period

Generating shots continued to be a struggle for the Islanders in the second period, as the Flyers maintained a tight structure and didn’t allow much space for their opponent to shoot. Philadelphia also blocked more than a few shots to keep the scores at zeroes.

Finally, with about 12 minutes left in the frame, Oskar Lindblom got to the net front and deflected the puck off of Claude Giroux‘s centering shot through Sorokin’s five hold to put the Flyers on the board.

Third Period

Through 43 minutes of play, the Flyers held the Islanders to just 10 total shots on goal. Then a scramble in the Philadelphia crease where Elliott probably thought he had contained the puck, but in fact it popped out and Oliver Wahlstrom put it over the goal line to tie the game.

The Flyers, no matter how many chances or odd-man rushes, just could not seem to find the next goal to restore their lead, and the game went to overtime.

All four shots in OT were courtesy of the Islanders, and the final one from Anthony Beauvillier was enough to give New York the two points.

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲  Oskar Lindblom, Claude Giroux, Justin Braun

▼  Michael Raffl