Revenge? Flyers Game 21 vs Islanders: Lines, Notes, How to Watch

The Philadelphia Flyers (10-9-1) will play the New York Islanders (8-6-5) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the UBS Arena. This will be the Flyers’ fourth of eight consecutive games against Metropolitan Division opponents. It would be hard to argue that this slate will not have a significant impact on the outcome of the rest of their season.

With a game in hand, the Islanders have now surpassed the Flyers in the standings, with New York now in fourth in the Metro and Philadelphia in fifth. With a win tonight, the Islanders will leapfrog the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals to take control of second place. The New York Rangers, who handily defeated the Flyers on Friday, are comfortably in first place with a nine-point buffer.

This will be the Flyers’ last back-to-back until December, when they play the Nashville Predators and Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 21 & 22, respectively.

Because Carter Hart played against the Islanders on Wednesday and the Rangers on Friday, Sam Ersson is expected to be Saturday’s starter.

Flyers Preview

Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech was placed on LTIR on Saturday. The Flyers, meanwhile, activated Rasmus Ristolainen from LTIR prior to puck drop.

The Flyers are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games against the Islanders, and just 1-4-0 in their last five. Ilya Sorokin looked like his vintage self in New York’s most recent win against Philadelphia on Wednesday. He is expected to start Saturday.

Sam Ersson is expected to face the Islanders for the first time as the Philadelphia Flyers‘ starter.

The Flyers will not face the Isles again until April 1, when they host New York at the Wells Fargo Center.

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Expected Flyers Lines

Tyson Foerster – Sean Couturier – Cam Atkinson

Noah Cates – Morgan Frost – Owen Tippett

Joel Farabee – Ryan Poehling – Travis Konecny

Nicolas Deslauriers – Scott Laughton – Garnet Hathaway

Defense

Cam York – Travis Sanheim

Nick Seeler – Sean Walker

Marc Staal – Rasmus Ristolainen

Goaltending

Sam Ersson

Carter Hart

Expected Islanders Lines

Simon Holmstrom – Bo Horvat – Mat Barzal

Pierre Engvall – Brock Nelson – Kyle Palmieri

Anders Lee – J.G. Pageau – Oliver Wahlstrom

Hudson Fasching – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck

Defense

Scott Mayfield – Noah Dobson

Alex Romanov – Ryan Pulock

Samuel Bolduc – Grant Hutton

Goaltending

Ilya Sorokin

Semyon Varlamov

Flyers Special Teams

Flyers power play: 10.29%, 29th

Flyers penalty kill: 82.81%, 12th

Islanders power play: 23.53%, 8th

Islanders penalty kill: 69.84%, 31st

Flyers Game Notes

With his pending appearance Saturday, Sean Couturier is two games from seventh-most in Philadelphia Flyers history (739, 741).

Rasmus Ristolainen is expected to make his 2023-24 debut.

Noah Cates is day-to-day after requiring 30 stitches to the mouth against the Rangers. Cates finished the game after taking a puck to the mouth, but is expected to sit for a bit as he continues to heal.

Edit: Cates will play, per Flyers.

Cam Atkinson leads the Philadelphia Flyers in career scoring against the Islanders, with 14 goals, 14 assists, and 28 points in 32 games.

The Flyers‘ are currently on a two-game losing streak, with both losses coming against divisional opponents.

How to Watch the Flyers Game

TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia +

Radio: 93.3 WMMR

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