Islanders, Flyers hoping for resiliency in Game 7 of Eastern Second Round

Resiliency will be key for the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders when they play Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVAS)

The Flyers have demonstrated it, winning Games 5 and 6 in overtime to extend the best-of-7 series. Defenseman Ivan Provorov pushed it to the limit when he scored at 15:03 of double overtime for a 5-4 win in Game 6 on Thursday.
The Game 7 winner will play the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final.
"We've been playing a lot of hockey, both teams, physical hockey," Flyers coach Alain Vigneault said Friday. "I sort of feel like we're the toy growing up that you keep punching in the face and it keeps getting back up.
"We've been whacked and we were down 3-1 and we're still there. We gave ourselves a chance and we'll get ready for tomorrow and work hard and enjoy the moment."
The Islanders have a chance to advance for the third straight game after winning three of the first four. They outshot the Flyers 53-31 in Game 6, but Flyers goalie Carter Hart made 49 saves.
In Game 5, Islanders center Brock Nelson was unable to lift a shot over Hart's pad on a breakaway at 4:16 of overtime before Flyers forward Scott Laughton scored at 12:20 for a 4-3 win.
"Would I liked to have the overtime shot back? For sure," Nelson said. "We're here tied up at [3-3] now heading into Game 7. You've got to win a hockey game to move on, so you can't worry about that. You just worry about the next opportunity and the task at hand. When the time comes, you get another shot, you want to take advantage of it."

This will be the second time Vigneault and Islanders coach Barry Trotz will be Game 7 opponents. Vigneault coached the New York Rangers to a 2-1 overtime win against Trotz and the Washington Capitals to win their 2015 second-round series. Vigneault is 5-2 in Game 7; Trotz is 2-2.
Flyers center Kevin Hayes, then with the Rangers, tied that Game 7 in the second period before center Derek Stepan won it in overtime. The Capitals led the series before the Rangers won three in a row.
"He's a great coach," Hayes said of Trotz. "There's a reason why he's won a Cup (2018 with the Capitals) and gone deep in the playoffs. His teams, they pounce on our mistakes. We have to limit our mistakes because they're a team that when we turn it over and we have three guys low, they're jamming it down our throats on a 3-on-2.
"They play a very systematic game. It's Game 7, both teams know exactly how each other plays and whoever sticks to their system the most will have the best opportunity to win."
After two missed opportunities, the Islanders will look to match the Flyers' resiliency and advance to the conference final for the first time since 1993.
"The journey to a Game 7 or a journey in any series always isn't one team wins one and it goes back and forth; very seldom does that happen," Trotz said. "It's more of what you're seeing. … We've lost our three games in a couple of double overtimes, so the margin of error or the opportunity, we've had opportunities to close out the series and it hasn't happened.
"But I do know this, tomorrow at the end of the night that this series will be closed. The great thing is it's a Game 7. When you do everything as a young kid playing on the streets, you're playing Game 7 for the Stanley Cup. This is a Game 7 not necessarily for the Stanley Cup, but it's a chance to get to the Stanley Cup."