As the NHL season enters its final calendar month, the New York Islanders (31-27-15) start the homestretch against the Philadelphia Flyers (36-29-10), a game with major playoff implications.
As the NHL season enters its final calendar month, the New York Islanders (31-27-15) start the homestretch against the Philadelphia Flyers (36-29-10), a game with major playoff implications.
Puck drop from Wells Fargo Center is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
The last time the two teams met was on November 25 in a battle of the goaltenders. Ilya Sorokin and Sam Ersson traded scoreless regulation and overtime, forcing the game into the shootout. After both goalies stopped the first three shots of the skills contest, Tyson Foerster walked it off in the fourth round, propelling Philadelphia to a 1-0 win.
Monday's game is pivotal for both teams' playoff aspirations.
Philadelphia is five points ahead of the Islanders in the standings and two points ahead of the Detroit Red Wings, who face the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Flyers are also tied with the Washington Capitals in the standings with 82 points, but Washington has the tiebreaker by virtue of having games in hand.
Where They've Been:
Philadelphia enters Monday's game off an upset loss at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Lukas Reichel and Philipp Kurashev scored goals in the first period to give Chicago a 2-0 lead that they never relinquished.
Foerster cut the lead in half 17 seconds into the second, but the Blackhawks responded with three-straight goals from Nick Foligno, Joey Anderson, and MacKenzie Entwistle, propelling them to a 5-1 win.
Players To Watch:
After two impressive starts in Florida, Semyon Varlamov will make his third-straight start and 23rd of the season (9-8-4, 2.83 GAA, .912 SV%).
Despite taking the loss against Tampa Bay, he made 36 saves to keep the Islanders in the game. Against Philadelphia, he is 10-3-2 with a 2.66 GAA and .918 SV%, most recently earning the win with one goal on 26 shots on Feb. 6, 2023.
Kyle Palmieri tallied the Islanders' lone goal in their loss to the Lightning on Saturday, giving him 13 goals since Roy assumed head coaching duties. Ryan Pulock added an assist on Palmieri's goal, giving him points in four of his last five games.
Brock Nelson had a pair of goals in their first meeting with the Flyers on Nov. 22, he has 12 goals lifetime against Philadelphia.
Despite being kept off the board in their first two meetings, Palmieri also leads the Islanders in goals against the Flyers with 13. Mathew Barzal leads in the remaining offensive statistics with 18 assists and 27 points.
Samuel Ersson, who assumed starting goaltender duties in January, will make his 44th start of the season on Monday (21-16-7, 2.79 GAA, .892 SV%).
He took the loss against Chicago on Saturday with five goals against on 24 shots.
His 25-save shutout on Nov. 25 is the lone start of his career against New York.
Foerster has continued a strong rookie year since his shootout winner against New York. The former first-round pick reached the 20-goal mark on Saturday.
Cam Atkinson leads active Flyers in goals against the Islanders with 14, while Sean Couturier leads in assists; they both have 28 points against New York to be tied for the team lead.
New York Islanders Projected Lines:
Pierre Engvall - Brock Nelson - Kyle Palmieri
Casey Cizikas - Mathew Barzal - Hudson Fasching
Anders Lee - Jean-Gabriel Pageau - Bo Horvat
Matt Martin - Kyle MacLean - Cal Clutterbuck
Alexander Romanov - Noah Dobson
Adam Pelech - Ryan Pulock
Mike Reilly - Robert Bortuzzo
Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin
*Pageau did not skate Monday morning but will play, per head coach Patrick Roy.
Philadelphia Flyers Projected Lines:
Tyson Foerster - Sean Couturier - Travis Konecny
Owen Tippett - Morgan Frost - Cam Atkinson
Joel Farabee - Scott Laughton - Nicolas Delauries
Noah Cates - Ryan Poehling - Garnet Hathaway
Cam York - Travis Sanheim
Nick Seeler - James Drysdale
Egor Zamula - Erik Johnson
Samuel Ersson
Ivan Fedotov
How To Watch:
Monday night's game will air on MSGSN. On the radio, the contest will air on 88.7 FM WRHU, 103.9 LI News Radio and 1050 AM ESPN.