John Tortorella's Philadelphia Flyers (10-9-1) are back in Elmont, New York, on Saturday evening to take on Lane Lambert's New York Islanders (8-6-5) for the second time in four nights. Game time at UBS Arena at 7:30 p.m. ET.
The game will be televised on NBCSP+. The radio broadcast is on 93.3 WMMR with an online simulcast on Flyers Radio 24/7.
On Wednesday evening in Elmont, the Islanders defeated the Flyers by a 3-2 score. Philly battled back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 to twice cut the gap to a single goal, but they were unable to net an equalizer.
Anders Lee opened the scoring for the Islanders, who later received a pair of goals by Brock Nelson. The Flyers received goals from Cam York and Joel Farabee (off a gorgeous setup feed by Bobby Brink). Ilya Sorokin was outstanding in net for the Islanders, turning aside 34 of 36 shots. Carter Hart played well overall, and had no chance on two of the three New York goals. Sorokin was just a bit better on that night.
On Black Friday afternoon at Wells Fargo Center, the Flyers sustained a second straight loss in a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the New York Rangers. The Flyers were guilty of some breakdowns with and without the puck, and paid the price.
On a more positive note, the game easily could have gone sideways after the Rangers took a quick 2-0 lead early in the first period. To a large degree, though, the Flyers stabilized and the score never got out of hand. Sean Couturier scored the only Philadelphia goal, assisted by Nick Seeler and Cam Atkinson.
Here are five things to watch in Saturday's rematch with the Islanders:
1. Solving Sorokin
Sorokin was masterful in Wednesday's game against the Flyers. Philly generated, by Natural Stat Trick calculations, 40 bonafide scoring chances (many got blocked or missed the net). Among those, Philly generated 16 Grade-A chances. The goalie made one fantastic save after another.
On Friday, the Islanders started Semyon Varlamov in goal against the Ottawa Senators. Sorokin will return to the net on Saturday.
How can the Flyers fare better against Sorokin this time? The same way they would against any top goalie. Take his eyes away with screens. Create deflections. Generate scrambles and get to loose pucks first.
That can be easier said than done, of course. But if the Flyers are to the grind out a victory against Sorokin and the Islanders, these are the sorts of plays that can produce enough goal support to win.
With Hart having started in net on Wednesday and Friday, the Flyers may tab Samuel Ersson to start in Elmont on Saturday. Ersson started and won last Sunday in a home win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
2. Getting shots through to the net
The Islanders' shot-blocking prowess is a big part of the reason why the Flyers have struggled against New York in recent years. Although Sorokin was severely tested multiple times in Wednesday's game, there were even more occasions where the shooting lanes closed off or hurried shot attempts were off target.
On Wednesday, the Flyers generated a whopping 81 shot attempts in a game decided in regulation. That's a massive volume of shot attempts. However, the Islanders blocked 26 of the attempts. Another 17 missed the net.
In Saturday's return engagement with the Islanders, the Flyers must be more efficient in getting their shot attempts through the human traffic and on target to force Sorokin to make the saves. This is especially true if the Flyers can't generate a similar volume of shot attempts.
3. Don't chase the game again
The numbers do not lie and, as such, this statement bears repeating: If the Flyers score Saturday's first goal, they'll give themselves a strong chance to find ways to win the game.
During the Flyers' recent five-game winning streak, they scored first in every game (in fact, Philly never trailed at any point). When scoring the first goal, the Flyers are 10-1-0 this season.
In Wednesday's game, the Flyers fell behind early as a combination of a turnover, coverage breakdown and Hart being unable to seal off the near side post led to Lee's first-period goal that opened the scoring. On Friday, the Rangers scored twice in the opening two minutes.
When yielding a game's first goal, the Flyers are 0-8-1. Over time, the Flyers will have to learn how to find a path to more wins even on nights when they have to play from behind. Leaguewide, though, the team that scores first will go on to win more than 70 percent of the time.
4. Flyers special teams vs. Islanders special teams
After Friday's game against the Rangers, Tortorella was not in the mood to discuss the team's 0-for-6 performance on the power play over 12 full minutes of game time on the man advantage. However, it's a topic that must improve.
The Flyers have significantly improved their offensive zone entries on the power play compared to last season. They need to win more of the initial offensive zone faceoffs to establish immediate possession and get set up. However, the biggest overriding issue is their lack of execution in setting up -- or finishing -- high-grade scoring chances.
When they have managed to do so, it's often been because a bounce (off a defender, a carom off the end boards, etc.) has gone their way. There have been few prime chances that one could accurately describe as "surgical". When an opposing PK actually has been carved, though, Philly has struggled to finish.
Meanwhile, there's been a lot of personnel bouncing back and forth from PP1 to PP2 -- or on and off usage in one or the other -- and not much has fared well enough to deserve to become deployment fixtures.
It's been a much more encouraging story on the penalty kill. The Flyers enter Saturday's game with an 82.8 success rate (53-for-64) on the penalty kill with five shorthanded goals (two apiece by Travis Konecny and Sean Walker, one by Ryan Poehling). Adjusted for the shorthanders, the Flyers have a 90.6 net penalty kill percentage, ranking fifth in the NHL.
For the Islanders, the penalty kill has been a major struggle this season. They rank 31st on the PK (69.8 percent). The Isles limited the Flyers to just one power play (Philly did not score) on Wednesday, so their difficulties killing penalties became a non-factor.
Conversely, New York's power play enters Saturday's game ranked 9th in the league. The Isles have gone 12-for-51 (23.5 percent) with one shorthanded goal allowed.
5. Behind Enemy Lines: New York Islanders
The Islanders have to deal with more travel this week than the Flyers, despite New York being the home team for Wednesdays and Saturdays games. On Friday, the Islanders were in Ottawa to take on the Senators while the Flyers were at home.
New York skated to a 5-3 win over the Sens. Kyle Palmieri, Oliver Wahlstrom, Mathew Barzal, and Simon Holmström (game-winning goal) scored for the Islanders. Varlamov stopped 28 of 31 shots on goal.
The Islanders have won three straight games. They were winless (0-4-3) over their previous seven matches.
