5 THINGS: Flyers vs. Islanders

GAME NOTES
In their final game before the NHL's trade deadline, interim head coach Mike Yeo's Philadelphia Flyers (19-31-11) will host Barry Trotz's New York Islanders (26-24-9) at the Wells Fargo Center on Sunday afternoon. Game time is 2:00 p.m. ET (TNT, 97.5 The Fanatic).

This is the fourth and final meeting of the season between the Metropolitan Division teams. The Flyers are 0-2-1 against the Islanders so far this season.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 3-1 road loss to the Ottawa Senators on Friday. The game was tied at 1-1 entering the third period, but the Senators scored power play and empty-net goals to seal the win.
On Saturday, the iconic Flyers career of longtime captain Claude Giroux officially came to an end. The Flyers traded Giroux, Lehigh Valley Phantoms forwards Connor Bunnaman and German Rubtsov plus a 2024 fifth-round draft pick to the Florida Panthers. In return, Philadelphia received right winger Owen TIppett, a conditional 2024 (or 2025) first-round draft pick and a 2023 fourth-round pick.
Both the Flyers and Islanders will be playing for the third time in four days. The difference is that the Flyers played on Thursday at home against Nashville and Friday in Ottawa while the Islanders were in Manhattan on Thursday against the New York Rangers (2-1 win) and home in Long Island on Saturday to play the Dallas Stars (4-2 win).
Here are five things to watch in this game:
1. Tippett and Mayhew
As of this writing it is not yet clear whether Tippett will be in Philadelphia for the game, and ready to suit up and play. It has never been a question of tools with Tippett, who boasts size, speed and goal-scoring upside. Rather, it's been a matter of the 23-year-old demonstrating more consistency in his offensive production and continuing to develop more of a two-way game.
Following a demotion to the AHL's Charlotte Checkers and prior to being held out of two games to avoid injury prior to the trade being completed with the Flyers, Tippett was named the American Hockey League's Player of the Week last week. He had back-to-back strong games against Lehigh Valley during his Player of the Week sample size.
The Flyers are also awaiting word on Gerry Mayhew. They will learn at 2 p.m. ET whether Mayhew, who was placed on waivers on Saturday, was claimed by another NHL team. If he clears, the Flyers will have the option of keeping Mayhew on the NHL roster or assigning him to Lehigh Valley.
2. Earning -- and finishing -- scoring chances
Goals have been hard to come by for both the Flyers and Islanders this season. The Islanders rank 24th offensively in the NHL with an average 2.71 goals per game. The Flyers are tied with Montreal at the bottom of the NHL with an anemic 2.52 goals per game.
In terms of preventing opponents from scoring, however, the Islanders still play a formidable brand of team defense. Ranking 6th in the NHL with a 2.68 goals against average, the Islanders consistently take away the middle of the ice and force teams to settle for perimeter plays. The club also ranks 5th in the NHL in terms of blocked shots per 60 minutes (14.99).
The Flyers are also a good shot-blocking team, ranking 5th at 15.05 blocks per 60 minutes. However, the Flyers give up medium to high-danger chances at a significantly higher rate than the Islanders. Philly ranks 28th in expected goals against while the Islanders rank 11th. In terms of actual goals against, the Flyers rank 25th with a 3.43 team goals against average.
3. Inside the Numbers: Finishing the Job
In 23 of the Flyers' last 25 games, they have either led, been tied, or trailed by a single goal within the third period. However, Philadelphia has only a 6-15-4 record to show for it.
When trailing (2-19-3) or tied (6-11-3) after the first period, the Flyers are a combined 8-30-6 record. When trailing (2-24-4) or tied (9-6-4) after two periods, the Flyers are a combined 11-30-8. When leading at the first intermission the Flyers are 11-1-5. If leading after two periods, which has only happened 12 times all season, the Flyers are 8-1-3.
The Islanders are a combined 24-9-4 when leading (13-1-1) or tied (11-8-3) after the first period, and a combined 25-6-6 when leading (21-2-2) or tied (4-4-4) at the second intermission. When trailing at the first intermission, the Islanders are 2-15-5. Trailing after two periods, the Islanders have only won once (1-18-3) in the 22 games where they've faced that situation.

4. Behind Enemy Lines: New York Islanders
The Islanders bring a six-game point streak (5-0-1) into this game. They have 23 games remaining to play; the most in the NHL. However, New York is 19 points plus a tiebreaker disadvantage below the cutoff for the lower wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
On Saturday, a hat trick from Brock Nelson spurred the Islanders to a 4-2 win over Dallas at UBS Arena. Ryan Pulock also scored for New York and Semyon Varlamov stopped 37 of 39 shots to earn the win in goal.
Entering Sunday's game, Mathew Barzal leads the Islanders in scoring with 40 points (12g, 28a). He's followed by Nelson (team-high 27 goals, 39 points), defenseman Noah Dobson (10g, 36 points), and team captain Anders Lee (23 goals, 31 points). Playmaking forward Josh Bailey has 24 assists among his 30 points.
In recent years, the Flyers had issues coping with the Islanders' fourth line. Casey Cizikas has scored twice against the Flyers this season (among his seven overall goals), Cal Clutterbuck has three assists over the three games the team has played, and one of Matt Martin's two goals in 48 games this season came at the Flyers' expense.
5. Players to Watch: Atkinson and Nelson
Cam Atkinson enters this game leading the Flyers in both goals (23) and points (47). A streak scorer, Atkinson has posted points in five straight games and six of the last seven, compiling five goals and eight points in that span.
Brock Nelson has posted seven points (5g, 2a) over his last five game. His hat trick on Saturday was the fourth of his NHL career and his second this season.