John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (22-21-6) will play the latter game of an Empire State back-to-back on Friday against Patrick Roy's New York Islanders (19-20-7). Game time at UBS Arena in Elmont is 7:30 p.m. EST.
The game will be televised on NBCSP+. The radio broadcast is on 93.3 WMMR with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7 The Fanatic.
Philly saw a six-game point streak (5-0-1) come to an end on Thursday with a 6-1 loss to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. A 3-on-1 rush goal, scored by Owen Tippett (assisted by Travis Konecny and Morgan Frost) just 85 seconds into the first period, wound up being the Flyers' lone tally of the game.
The Islanders have won two straight games since the Flyers came to town and beat Roy's team, 5-3, in a feisty contest last Thursday. Two nights later, the Isles beat the visiting San Jose Sharks, 4-1. On Monday, the Islanders skated to a 3-1 home win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Friday's game is the second in the four-game season series between the Flyers and Islanders, and the final meeting in Elmont this season. The venue will shift to Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 30 and April 12.
The last time the Flyers played the Islanders, a high hit by New York's Maxim Tsyplakov early in the first period resulted in Flyers center Ryan Poehling having to leave the game and then go on IR with an upper-body injury. Tsyplakov was subsequently suspended by the NHL for three games. He is unavailable for Friday's game.
Last Thursday, a Bo Horvat power play goal sent the Islanders to the first intermission with a 1-0 lead. The Flyers exploded for three goals in the middle frame, as tallies by Sean Couturier, Garnet Hathaway (shorthanded) and Frost turned the tide. In the third period, the teams seesawed two goals apiece: Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee (power play) scored for the Islanders but Philly answered with goals by Cam York and Noah Cates (empty net) to seal the 5-3 victory.
Here are five things to watch in Friday's rematch in Elmont.
1. Flyers special teams
The Flyers' struggling power play found a short-lived oasis last week by scoring two goals apiece on the man advantage in consecutive games against Anaheim and Florida. Since that time, the Flyers are 1-for-11 on the power play.
For the season, the Flyers have dropped to 29th leaguewide on the power play at a 16.1 percent conversion rate. The Islanders' penalty kill went 4-for-4 against the Flyers last Thursday but rank last (32nd) in the NHL for the season at a horrid 67.7 percent.
The Flyers post-Thanksgiving struggles with their once-formidable penalty kill have shown only sporadic signs of getting resolved. Last Thursday, even though the Islanders also rank last in the NHL on the power play (12.5 percent), New York struck twice on the man advantage against the Flyers.
Hathaway's shorthanded goal -- a pivotal moment in last Thursday's game -- offset some of the damage but Lee's third period power play goal forced Philly to sweat out the victory before Cates' empty netter. The Flyers' penalty kill ranks 20th in the NHL at 77.8 percent for the season. At Thanksgiving, the Flyers were ranked 3rd leaguewide at 85.7 percent.
On Thursday at MSG, special teams failures played a significant role in why momentum turned against the Flyers after they grabbed an early lead. The Flyers went 0-for-3 on the power play, with momentum stalling out after each of the first two opportunities went awry. They were 1-for-2 on the PK.
It remains to be seen if power play personnel will be juggled again on Friday. However, it's notable that Tortorella did not use either Bobby Brink (Anthony Richard took his place) on Philly's third and final power play of the game. Unfortunately, a failed entry attempt on an errant Tippett pass resulted directly in an Adam Fox shorthanded empty net goal.
2. Abols has impressed so far
Twenty-nine-year-old Flyers "rookie" center Rodrigo Abols has accounted very well for himself in his two NHL games to date in the absences of Poehling and Scott Laughton (personal leave). Abols was especially good on Thursday against the Rangers.
In fact, on a shift-in and shift-out basis over the final 40 minutes of the game, the Abols line was arguably Philadelphia's most effective trio. Abols had four shots on goal and was in the thick of several good scoring chances. He was also 9-for-10 on faceoffs (the Flyers collective were just 27-for-57, 47 percent) and was credited with three hits in the game.
For most of Thursday's game, Abols centered a line with Anthony Richard and Hathaway. Within the third period, however, Tortorella moved Konecny to the Abols line and put Hathaway with Frost and Tippett.
The Flyers will not hold a morning skate on Friday. So it won't be clear until pregame warmups whether Tortorella restores Konecny to the line with Frost and Tippett or whether the late-game change to put TK with Abols and Richard carries over into this game.
3. Between the pipes: Important game for Fedotov
Ivan Fedotov will be tasked with the crucial mission to deliver a win in net over the Islanders after the Flyers came up short at MSG on Friday. There was nothing wrong with how Samuel Ersson played on Thursday -- he played better than his stats would suggest -- but the Flyers can ill afford to lose back-to-back games given the tightly packed standings.
With Aleksei Kolosov having been loaned back to the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Fedotov has at least temporarily staked down the No. 2 goalie job. Games such as Friday's will be crucial for the team as a whole and for Fedotov individually.
4. Fatigue factor disadvantage
The Islanders have had three nights off since their last game, and have been at home continuously for 11 days. Friday's match marks New York's fifth game of a season high seven-game homestand.
Conversely, the Flyers will play their third game in four nights and second game of a B2B. So far, the Flyers are winless (0-3-0) in the latter game of a back-to-back set this season. They will need to end that spell with a win in Elmont to get right back on the beam after falling to the Rangers on Thursday.
5. Shot suppression
The Flyers did an excellent job of preventing opposing shots from getting through in their recent wins over the Devils and Red Wings (primarily in the first and second periods). That was not the case at MSG on Thursday.
The Rangers generated 37 shots on the Flyers' net, scored two key goals on deflections from the mid-to-high slot, and created a layered screen on another. The Flyers lead the NHL in shot blocking but only blocked 17 against the Rangers.
At the other end of the ice, the Flyers need to exhibit patience and make the most of their attacking opportunities. These were important factors in the last win over the Islanders as well as last Saturday's victory over the Devils in Newark.