Flyers at Islanders preview
New York goes for seventh straight win; Hart in goal for Philadelphia, which has won three in row
by Brian Compton @BComptonNHL / NHL.com Deputy Managing Editor
FLYERS (5-3-1) at ISLANDERS (7-3-0)
7 p.m. ET; MSG+, NBCSP, NHL.TV
The Game
The New York Islanders will go for their seventh straight win when they play the Philadelphia Flyers at Nassau Coliseum on Sunday.
The Islanders have won at least seven in a row six times, most recently from Dec. 31, 1989 to Jan. 19, 1990 (9-0-0). The longest winning streak in their history is 15 games from Jan. 21 to Feb. 20, 1982.
New York will be without forwards Matt Martin and Tom Kuhnhackl, who each sustained a lower-body injury during a 4-2 victory at the Ottawa Senators on Friday. Each is expected to be out 4-6 weeks.
Philadelphia will play its second game in as many days after rallying for its third straight victory, 7-4 against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. Goalie Carter Hart will start for the first time in four games. He's allowed seven goals on 29 shots in his past two starts.
Players to watch
Flyers center Kevin Hayes has scored in three straight games and has five points over that span. He had a four-game goal streak with the New York Rangers from Nov. 1-6, 2016.
Islanders forward Derick Brassard has scored goals in back-to-back games.
They said it
"We've got four divisional games in a row here. I think when you start off on the right foot, especially when you've got back to backs and going into Pittsburgh (on Tuesday) too, going off of two points is a good start." -- Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere
"We've got guys that are ready to fill in; that's the beauty of it. It doesn't matter who goes in there, they're going to play hard, they're going to play physical, and this is a perfect test tonight for us as a group." -- Islanders center Casey Cizikas
Flyers projected lineup
James van Riemsdyk -- Claude Giroux -- Jakub Voracek
Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Travis Konecny
Michael Raffl -- Kevin Hayes -- Joel Farabee
Tyler Pitlick -- Mikhail Vorobyev -- Chris Stewart
Ivan Provorov -- Matt Niskanen
Travis Sanheim -- Justin Braun
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Robert Hagg
Carter Hart
Brian Elliott
Scratched: Samuel Morin
Injured: Nolan Patrick (migraine disorder), Scott Laughton (broken finger)
Islanders projected lineup
Anders Lee -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Derick Brassard -- Brock Nelson -- Anthony Beauvillier
Ross Johnston -- Cole Bardreau -- Oliver Wahlstrom
Michael Dal Colle -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk
Semyon Varlamov
Thomas Greiss
Scratched: Noah Dobson
Injured: Tom Kuhnhackl (lower body), Matt Martin (lower body), Leo Komarov (illness), Jordan Eberle (lower body), Andrew Ladd (knee)
Status report
The Flyers did not have a morning skate, but coach Alain Vigneault announced after the game Saturday that Laughton is expected to be out at least four weeks. Pitlick is expected to replace him Sunday. … Wahlstrom, the No. 11 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, will play after being a healthy scratch Friday. He does not have a point in four games.
Stat pack
Philadelphia is averaging 35.9 shots on goal per game, second to the Los Angeles Kings (37.1). … The Islanders have won five of their past eight games against the Flyers. … New York is 7-0-0 when it scores at least three goals. … Nelson has 53 points (27 goals, 26 assists) in 70 NHL games in October.