Game Preview: Islanders vs Flyers

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (14-8-0) VS PHILADELPHIA FLYERS (7-9-5)
7:30 PM | UBS ARENA | 80S NIGHT
WATCH: MSGSN | MSGGO | ESPN+
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 1050 AM
The New York Islanders meet the Philadelphia Flyers on the second half of a back-to-back for both teams at UBS Arena on Saturday. The Islanders hope to extend a burgeoning win streak, while the Flyers aim to break a long winless streak.
The Islanders are on a three-game win streak, their second win streak of three or more games so far this year. Their most recent win came Friday in a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets, with Brock Nelson scoring the go-ahead goal in the third period. Nelson's goal came after the Blue Jackets erased the Islanders 2-0 lead with a pair of power-play goals.

"Obviously, it was a little bit of adversity but that's not a bad thing," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "I thought our guys handled it well. At the end of the day, we had to come out and win the third period and win the hockey game."
The Flyers are winless in their last nine games, going 0-6-3 over that span. Their most recent loss was a 4-1 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. The Flyers are trying to avoid their third double-digit winless streak in just two seasons, with the team going winless in 10 or more games twice in 2021-22.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Semyon Varlamov is projected to start for the Islanders after Ilya Sorokin started in the win over Columbus. Varlamov has a 4-3-0 record and has posted a 2.97 GAA and a .914 save percentage this season. In 14 career games against the Flyers, Varlamov has posted a 2.83 GAA and a .915 save percentage. Varlamov's two-game winning streak was snapped after a 5-2 loss to Dallas a week ago.
  ISLES VS FLYERS
  ISLANDERS ARTICLES
  3 Takeaways: NYI 3, CBJ 2
  GAME EXTRAS
  Holiday Offers
  Custom Sneaker Sweepstakes
  HFC Jersey Auction
  Reverse Retro Jersey
  Talkin' Isles
  Isles Season Tickets
  Getting Here
  Parking
  - Mathew Barzal is on a seven-game point-streak after tallying two assists against the Blue Jackets. He has 10 points (2G, 8A) on the streak. Barzal's game on Friday was his seventh multi-point effort of the season, and pulled him into first in the NHL in assists with 23, overtaking Nathan MacKinnon.
  - Simon Holmstrom, the Islanders' 2019 first round draft pick (23rd overall) tallied his first NHL point on Wahlstrom's goal against the Blue Jackets on Friday. Holmstrom made his NHL debut Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers.
  - Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored his third goal in two games on Friday against the Blue Jackets with a power-play goal. All three of Pageau's goals came on special teams, with two power-play goals and one shorthanded goal. Pageau has five goals in his last six games after only having one goal in his first 16 games. Pageau also leads the Islanders with 426 faceoffs and a 56.6 FOW%.
  - Brock Nelson scored his 10th goal of the year against the Blue Jackets. Nelson is the first Islander to score double digit goals this season. His goal was the game-winner, and his third game-winning goal of the season, most on the Islanders.
  - The Islanders power play has scored in back-to-back games and has six goals over the past six games.

FLYERS NOTES:

• Travis Konecny will miss Saturday's game with an upper-body injury. Head Coach John Tortorella announced on Nov. 22 that Konecny would miss 10 to 14 days. Konecny is second on the Flyers in points with 19 (7G, 12A).
  - Kevin Hayes leads the Flyers in points with 20 (6G, 14A) after scoring the Flyers' only goal in Friday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hayes has six points (3G, 3A) in his last six games.
  - Felix Sandstrom is projected to start for the Flyers after Carter Hart started Friday's game against the Penguins. Sandstrom played 26:23 in relief of Hart on Friday and allowed no goals on eight shots. Sandstrom has posted a .901 save percentage and a 3.14 GAA in seven appearances this season.
  - The Flyers are on a nine-game loss streak, going 0-6-3 in that span. The Flyers' last win came against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 8.
  - The Flyers' power play is ranked 30th in the NHL, converting on just 14.7 percent of their opportunities. Their last power play goal came from Owen Tippett on Nov. 17 against the Boston Bruins.
  - Former Islander Kieffer Bellows was claimed by the Flyers on Oct. 27. Bellows, the Islanders first-round pick in 2016 (19th overall), has played nine games for the Flyers, but is yet to record a point. Bellows had 25 points (11G, 14A) in 68 games for the Islanders over parts of four seasons.