5 THINGS: Flyers @ Islanders

GAME NOTES
Winless in their last 12 games, interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (13-21-8) are on the road on Tuesday to take on Barry Trotz's New York Islanders (14-14-6) at UBS Arena in Elmont, NY. Game time is 7:30 p.m. ET (NBCSP, 97.5 The Fanatic).

This is the third of four meetings between the Metro Division teams this season and the second and final one in Elmont. The season series will conclude on March 20 at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers are 0-1-1 against the Islanders this season.
On Jan. 17, in the first-ever game the Flyers played at the Islanders' brand new home arena, the game was scoreless until shortly past midway in regulation. New York then proceeded to score twice in the latter half of the second and period and twice more in the third to defeat the Flyers, 4-1.
A fluke goal by Travis Konecny late in the second period -- ending a 20-game goal drought for the player -- was the lone tally the Flyers mustered against Ilya Sorokin. Brock Nelson, Casey Cizikas (ending a 40-game goal drought), Anthony Beauvillier and Matt Martin (empty net, ending his own 40+ game goal drought) scored for the Islanders.
The next night, the teams rematched at the Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers trailed by scores of 1-0 and 2-1 but largely outplayed New York and battled to briefly take a 3-2 lead in the third period. However, the Flyers were unable to close the game out, and a tying Islanders goal forced overtime and an eventual shootout. The skills competition was a marathon in which neither team could score a single goal through eight rounds. In the bottom of the ninth round, Oliver Wahlstrom won the game for New York.
During regulation,Robin Salo, Josh Bailey and Cizikas scored for the Islanders. James van Riemsdyk (power play), Konecny and Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers.
Dating back to their Eastern Conference Semifinal playoff series in 2020, the Flyers and Islanders have played each other in a total of 17 games. Of those 17 games ,nine have been decided beyond regulation: three OT games in the seven-game 2020 playoff series (all won by the Flyers), five of the eight games in the 2020-21 regular season series (the first two won by the Flyers, the latter three by the Islanders) and one of the two games so far this season (New York via shootout).
Tuesday's game will see NHL history made. Flyers defenseman Keith Yandle will play in his 965th consecutive regular season game, surpassing Doug Jarvis for sole possession of the longest ironman streak in the history of the National Hockey League.
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1. Flyers fourth line.
With an injury-depleted roster, the Flyers dressed a patchwork fourth line in Monday's 3-1 home loss to the Dallas Stars..
The availability of rugged winger Zack MacEwen was considered questionable heading in, after MacEwen sustained an apparent lower-body injury in Saturday's 6-3 loss in Buffalo. MacEwen nevertheless suited up for the Stars game.
Even with MacEwen playing, the Flyers were still short of bodies. The team recalled Linus Sandin and Connor Bunnaman on Monday morning and placed both on the taxi squad. The Lehigh Valley Phantoms played both on Saturday and Sunday, and Yeo wanted to avoid one of the two recalls having to play four games in four nights (the two Phantoms games over the weekend, plus both halves of the back-to-back with Dallas and the Islanders).
Nick Seeler, normally a defenseman, was pressed into service on Monday as the Flyers' emergency fourth-line left winger. Jackson Cates centered the line with Seeler and MacEwen.
For Tuesday's game in Elmont, there is a possibility that the 25-year-old Sandin could make his NHL debut. Now in his second season with Lehigh Valley, Sandin suffered a fractured orbital bone during the first week of the regular season, and had to undergo surgery. He has played well since his return, emerging as an effective forechecker and close-range goal-scorer at the AHL level in recent weeks.
It is also possible that Bunnaman, who has dressed in 47 career NHL games including eight this season, could draw back into the lineup at either fourth-line center or left wing.
2. Need for tone-setters AND producers.
The Flyers' most effective trio -- the default third line -- in Monday's game against Dallas was the combination of Morgan Frost centering Gerry Mayhew and Max Willman. After the game, Yeo said of Frost that it was the best shift-in and shift-out performance he's seen from the offensively gifted but inconsistent young forward. All three players on the line played with good pace and a lot of energy on Monday. They created several scrambles around the Dallas net but could not bag a goal.
Through the first 40 minutes of Monday's game, the Flyers mustered only 17 shots on goal. Of those, 10 were members of the bottom six forward group or the defense corps. Ivan Provorov tallied the Flyers' lone goal, albeit while out on the ice with the second-line forward group centered by Scott Laughton.
The Flyers desperately need a step-up performance from some of the established NHL players on the upper end of the lineup beyond just Giroux (who remains the most likely Flyer to make a clutch play on any given night). For the Flyers to prevent a 13-game winless streak, some multi-player combination of at least three among Giroux, Cam Atkinson, Konecny, James van Riemsdyk, Oskar Lindblom and/or Scott Laughton need to both tone-setters and point-producers on the same night.
3. Inside the Numbers.
This ugly number keeps rearing its head: The Flyers' record when yielding rather than scoring the first goal of a game.After Monday's game, Philadelphia fell to 2-19-3 when trailing first.
Of late, the initial deficit itself hasn't typically been the big problem. Even in the debacle in Buffalo, the Flyers took a short-lived 2-1 lead within the first period after giving up the first goal. In other recent games, the Flyers have caught up from or even forged ahead after trailing, only to fail to protect or build on it in third-period crunch time.
Fifty percent of the problem: This is a Flyers team that habitually finds ways to lose winnable games in the third period.
The circumstances vary, Sometimes, it's an ill-timed turnover or defensive miscue. There have been too many times when there has been a snowball effect for several minutes after giving up a goal. Often, there's a power play or multiple man-advantages that create negative momentum over and above not scoring. Recently, there have been several Flyers odd-man rush or breakaway chances that could tie a game or potentially take a lead but result in nothing more than added frustration. The common thread is that, since mid-November, the Flyers have not executed in the moments that often swing outcomes.
The other half of the equation: Trailing in the first place. This Flyers team has been prone to slow starts or early game miscues that put them in a 1-0 or 2-0 hole. The Flyers have an 11-2-5 record when scoring first. That's decent, although not spectacular. The bigger issue here is that Philly has only scored first in 18 of 42 games played to date.
That's far too much chasing the game, and it's simply not conducive to winning. The Edmonton Oilers, for example, are a perfect 10-0-0 when scoring first but the real story is that they've trailed first in 27 games. Not coincidentally, despite nine wins wins when trailing first, the Oliers would miss the playoffs if the season ended today.
For a Flyers team for whom goals have been hard to come by except for the first six games of the season and a two-week hot stretch in December slow starts and failed closeouts have been fatal characteristics.
4. Behind Enemy Lines: New York Islanders
Since sweeping the home-and-home set with the Flyers, the Islanders have gone 1-1-0. The Isles shut out the Arizona Coyotes, 4-0, last Friday but came up small in a tougher test the next night. On Friday, the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs captured a 3-1 regulation win.
After the Islanders coughed up a first period shorthanded goal to Mitch Marner, Zach Parise (2nd goal of the season) knotted the game at 1-1 in the final minute of the frame. Nevertheless, the Isles still went to intermission trailing, courtesy of a Pierre Engvall goal off a New York turnover with 0.4 second on the clock. Morgan Rielly added some insurance midway through regulation, and the Islanders went on to lose by the two-goal margin.
The Islanders are typically stingy in terms of opposing shots and scoring chances. New York brings the NHL's fifth-best team GAA (2.59) into this game. The team's issue has been scoring goals (2.32 goals per game, 29th in the NHL). The New York power play ranks tied for 24th in the NHL at 16.7 percent.
5. Players to Watch: Atkinson and Nelson
Cam Atkinson leads the Flyers with 15 goals and is two points behind Giroux for the team's overall points lead (31 for Atkinson, 33 for Giroux). However, Atkinson is goalless in his last games (0g, 3a). The goal-starved Flyers could use a tally or two from Atkinson against New York. Ditto Konecny, JVR or just about anyone else.
Brock Nelson notched a goal and an assist against the Flyers in the front end of the home--and-home last week; his eighth career tally and 16th and 17th points head-to head against the Flyers during his career.