FINAL (OT) | Round 2 – Game 5 | Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Islanders Lead Series 3-2

Flyers Lineup

Claude Giroux – Sean Couturier – Jakub Voracek

Joel Farabee – Kevin Hayes – Tyler Pitlick

James van Riemsdyk – Scott Laughton – Travis Konecny

Derek Grant – Nate Thompson – Nicolas Aube-Kubel

Ivan Provorov – Matt Niskanen

Travis Sanheim – Philippe Myers

Robert Hagg – Justin Braun

Brian Elliott – Carter Hart

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

The popular turn of phrase for Alain Vigneault during game-day media availability was “time to put their big boy pants on,” speaking mostly of his top end players who have yet to show up in any significant way on the score sheet in this series. Faced with a win-or-go-home situation, the Flyers knew they had to put everything on the ice for a full 60 minutes of hockey.

Carter Hart found himself back between the pipes, and while there were no roster personnel changes, Vigneault did bump Tyler Pitlick up to Kevin Hayes‘ line and moved Travis Konecny down to the James van Riemsdyk and Scott Laughton line.

Aside from not being able to put the puck in the back of the net, the Flyers definitely had a solid first period. They skated well, maintained strong offensive pressure, and heavily outshot the Islanders. The one thing they needed to do more of was getting better net-front presence, as the Islanders found ways to block shot after shot throughout the frame.

Sean Couturier had a prime opportunity while on the power play, shooting at a gaping net, but hit the inside of the post instead. At the other end of the ice, Hart wasn’t very busy but came up with a big toe save on Jean-Gabriel Pageau. After a commendable period of play, it was a disappointment to see Derek Grant take a lazy tripping penalty with just 24 seconds left before intermission.

Sure enough, that opened the door for the Islanders to get on the board first. A scrum in the crease ended with Josh Bailey wrapping the puck around and getting it over the goal line. Vigneault challenged for goaltender interference, but the call was not overturned.

Then, the thing that everyone’s been waiting for finally happened: Claude Giroux scored a goal. He got to the front of the net and deflected a Phil Myers shot to even the score at 1-1. But the night of firsts didn’t stop there because next up it was van Riemsdyk’s turn to pot his first goal on a slick give-and-go from Laughton on an odd-man rush. The Flyers took a 2-1 lead into the second intermission.

The third period, however, proved to once again be an uphill climb for Philadelphia. To start, Couturier did not return to the game due to a late collision in the second period. Matt Niskanen took the opportunity to also put his first goal in the back of the net after Konecny connected with him on a perfect cross-ice pass. But that’s when things started to unravel.

The Islanders quickly put two goals past Hart, the last of which was a soft, floating shot from Derick Brassard that the young netminder would probably like to have back. Once again the Flyers had given up a lead and would have to save their season in overtime.

Hart put those goals behind him pretty quickly and made some spectacular saves in the overtime period, and the Flyers were buzzing around the Islanders’ net. As the period wore on, complete with a Philadelphia power play which produced zero shots on goal, the tension definitely started to rise. But with Laughton now playing on the top line in place of Couturier, he found his way to the net and deflected a blast by Ivan Provorov from the point. 

There’s still a big hill to climb for the Flyers, but they’re one step closer. They’ll face off in another potential elimination game on Thursday night for game six.

Plus / Minus

▲  James van Riemsdyk, Claude Giroux, Travis Konecny

▼  Nate Thompson, Robert Hagg