The Philadelphia Flyers and visiting New York Islanders are in very different moods heading into their Monday evening matchup.
The Flyers are coming off perhaps their best win of the season, while the Islanders are aiming to bounce back from arguably their worst performance of the season to date.
Philadelphia wrapped up a 2-0-1 road trip Friday with a 7-3 win in Colorado against the league-leading Avalanche. Owen Tippett recorded a hat trick — the second of his career — and added an assist in a dynamic performance against Cale Makar and company.
“He’s a big-time player. He makes big-time plays at the right time when we need it,” Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson said of Tippett, who leapt into second on the team in goals (18). “He’s that guy that can score from anywhere. He just doesn’t need much, and you give him the finger, he’ll take the whole hand. That’s what he did (Friday).”
Matvei Michkov added two goals and an assist for the Flyers, while Ersson finished with 32 saves. The seven goals marked a season high for Philadelphia, which bounced back nicely from a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth two days earlier.
“We scratched and clawed. It’s a tough game,” said Flyers coach Rick Tocchet, whose team heads right back on the road after Monday’s affair. “That’s a tough team to play against, and (we received) big efforts (from Mickov, Ersson and Tippett). … We seized the moment.”
Meanwhile, the Islanders were blanked by the Buffalo Sabres 5-0 on Saturday. David Rittich made 16 saves for New York, which was dealt its first shutout loss of the season.
“We did it to ourselves a little bit,” forward Bo Horvat said. “I thought we had a lot of good opportunities to put the puck in the net, but we just couldn’t bury them.”
Horvat registered four shots on goal and was minus-two in his return to the New York lineup. He had missed the previous nine games due to a lower-body injury.
“Overall, I felt pretty good. I felt confident,” he said. “I just wish I could have been a difference-maker (Saturday).”
Islanders coach Patrick Roy benched Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair for the entire third period due to a key defensive lapse in the second period.
“It’s pretty simple, backchecking is an important part of the game,” Roy said. “We talked about it on the road, and it’s my job to make guys accountable. … Backchecking doesn’t require talent. It requires will.”
The Flyers and Islanders have met twice this season with both games ending in a 4-3 shootout victory for Philadelphia.
In the first matchup last October, Philadelphia’s Trevor Zegras tied the game in the third period before scoring again in the shootout. In the most recent meeting in November, Zegras again scored in regulation before tallying in the shootout.
Fast-forward to the present and Zegras has been quiet of late, with two goals and three assists in his last nine games. New York’s leading scorer is in a slump as well, as Barzal enters this one with one goal over his last 15 contests.
–Field Level Media
