Game Preview: Islanders at Flyers

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (3-4-0) AT PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (5-2-1)
7PM | WELLS FARGO CENTER
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The New York Islanders look to bounce back as they kick off their first back-to-back of the season in Philadelphia against the Flyers on Saturday night. The teams will meet twice in two days to wrap up the Islanders five-game road trip. This marks the first meeting with the Flyers since the Islanders beat the Flyers in seven games in their Second Round Stanley Cup Playoffs series in September.
The Islanders enter the back-to-back set at Philadelphia having lost their last three games to New Jersey (Jan. 24) and Washington (Jan. 26 and 28), respectively.

Most recently, the Islanders dropped a 6-3 decision to the Capitals on Thursday night at Capital One Arena after leading the game 3-0. Prior to relinquishing six unanswered goals, Oliver Wahlstrom scored his first-NHL goal while Casey Cizikas and Anders Lee (power play) also found the back of the net. Semyon Varlamov started the game and made 17 saves on 22 shots as he suffered his second-straight loss.
The Capitals' onslaught of scoring was sparked by a five-goal blitz in the span of 9:23 in the second period. Conor Sheary scored twice in a margin of 73 seconds before Garnet Hathaway made it a tie game off the rush at 11:11. John Carlson ripped a one-timer in on the power play to provide the go-ahead goal and Zdeno Chara scored his first goal as a member of the team to end the second period with a 5-3 lead for Caps. In the final minute of play and on the power play, Tom Wilson converted on the Islanders empty net to cement the 6-3 scoreline.
"We didn't plan to go to Washington and lose two games, that was not the plan," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "Sometimes life kicks you right in the gut and you've got to get up. Let's not feel sorry for ourselves, let's pick ourselves up - and let's pick each other up more importantly. We can look forward. Keep looking forward. Stay in the fight here and take care of each other. We have a team concept, we have a great group of guys, but we have to play better. That's the bottom line."
The Islanders, who have dropped to seventh place in the East Division, now must take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and Sunday night. The Flyers sit in third place in the East and have won two-straight games.
Philadelphia defeated the New Jersey Devils 3-1 on Thursday night after rallying from a 1-0 deficit. Nate Prosser, Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux scored while Carter Hart backstopped the win with his 33 saves.

ISLANDERS NOTES:
• Wahlstrom scored his first-career goal in his season debut. Trotz noted ahead of Thursday's game that he would look to change up the lines, with Wahlstrom being one of the alterations. The 20-year-old winger logged 10:21 in the loss, fired one shot on net, threw one hit and skated alongside Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Kieffer Bellows.
• Cizikas scored his first goal of the season 18 seconds after Wahlstrom's icebreaker. Cal Clutterbuck assisted on Cizikas' goal and recorded his second point (two assists) through seven games this season.
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• Lee scored his third goal of the season - his second power-play goal and his fourth total point (3G, 1A) - while dressing in his 500th NHL game and in doing so, became the 32nd player to accomplish the feat in franchise history.
• Mathew Barzal nd Noah Dobson assisted on Lee's power-play goal. Barzal now leads the Islanders in points (7) and assists (4) through seven games this season. The 23-year-old center now has six points (2G, 4A) in his last four games. Dobson's assist marked his fifth point (1G, 4A) of the season through seven games. The 21-year-old leads the Islanders blueline in scoring and now has four points (1G, 3A) through his last four games.
• Varlamov made his fifth start of the season, the Russian netminder now has a record of 3-2-0, a 1.82 GAA and a .936 SV%.
• The Islanders power play went 1-for-3 and their penalty kill went 1-for-3 against the Caps. In the NHL, the Islanders power play is ranked 19th overall (17.9%) and their penalty kill is ranked 18th overall (77.3%).
• The Islanders outshot the Capitals 30-23 with 11 of their 30 shots coming in the third period, where they also held Washington to just one shot on goal.
• Josh Bailey Josh Bailey played in his 872nd game, all for the Islanders, matching Clark Gillies for fourth place on the all-time club list. Bailey will move into sole possession of fourth on Saturday.
• Anthony Beauvillier was sidelined for his second-straight game due to a lower-body injury that the winger suffered in the second period against New Jersey on Jan. 24. Subsequently, Beauvillier was placed on IR on Jan. 25.
• The Islanders are ranked second overall in the NHL at faceoffs with a faceoff win percentage of 56.6%.
• During regular season play, the Islanders have won four-straight games over the Flyers, including all three meetings last season.
*Update: Ryan Pulock will be a game-time decision per Trotz.
"Pulock skated for a brief time yesterday, he skated a little bit," Trotz said. "We kept him off today. He'll be a game-time decison."

FLYERS NOTES:
• Prosser and Giroux scored their first goals of the season. Prosser's first-period goal was his first as a member of the team and his first point of the season. Giroux's goal was his first of the season and brought his point total to eight (1G, 7A) in as many games. The Flyers Captain has four points (1G, 3A) in his last two games.
• Raffl scored his second goal of the season and now has three points (1G, 2A) through eight games.
• James van Riemsdyk assisted on Prosser's goal and now has eight points (5G, 3A) in as many games this season. Van Riemsdyk also has three points (2G, 1A) in his last two games. Van Riemsdyk leads the Flyers with five goals this season and is tied with four other players for the second most goals across the league.
• Erik Gustafsson record his fourth and fifth assists of the season as he dished out helpers on Prosser and Grioux's goal. The blueliner now has five assists through his first seven games as a member of the Flyers.
• Hart made his sixth start of the season and improved his record to 3-2-1. The 22-year-old has a 3.61 GAA and a .896 SV%.
• Against the Devils, Philadelphia's power play was 0-for-2 on the night and their penalty kill went a perfect 4-for-4. In the NHL, the Flyers extra-man unit is ranked 10th overall with a conversion rate of 26.9% and their penalty kill places 27th overall with a kill percentage of 70.4%.
• The Flyers average the eighth most goals-for in the NHL with a nightly average of 3.50 goals.
• Philadelphia averages the third-most shots against in the NHL with an average of 34.1 shots relinquished.
• Philippe Myers is nearing a return after being put on IR and being listed as week-to-week as a result of suffering a broken rib on Jan. 19. Myers joined the Flyers for practice on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
• Morgan Frost was placed on IR with a dislocated left shoulder that he sustained on Jan. 19. Unlike Myers, there is no timeline for Frost at the moment.