New York @ Philadelphia preview
Wells Fargo Center
Last Meeting ( Jan 25, 2022 ) Philadelphia 3, NY Islanders 4
The New York Islanders will be searching for their third consecutive victory Sunday afternoon when they visit the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Islanders defeated the Dallas Stars 4-2 on Saturday thanks in large part to Brock Nelson's fourth career hat trick.
While the chances of the Islanders reaching the playoffs remain bleak at best, they're beginning to surge, having put together a six-game point streak.
"We've been working to get to this point all year," Anders Lee said. "The way things have gone, the ups and downs, the inability to get things going, it was something we've been going for all year. And now, we're getting there."
The Islanders could look at numerous games where they let a late lead slip away. There has been a litany of injuries, as most teams experience.
All they can do now is keep competing.
"We just got to keep going at it," Lee said. "Keep building, stick together and roll. And that's what we're doing now. Regardless of how you view everything before it, it's a product of all that work we put in trying to get our team to where we are."
Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said, "You want to go into every year feeling good about yourself ... You want to know where you stand. You want to know that the guy next to you is going to be with you when the bullets fly.
"From now until the end of the season, we've got to have each other's back. We've got to be in the foxhole with each other and let it bleed out there and see what happens."
The Flyers, after an emotional 5-4 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday in captain Claude Giroux's 1,000th career game with the organization, fell flat Friday in a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators.
Giroux was traded to Florida on Saturday, a move that was expected.
"You don't replace a guy like that," Cam Atkinson said of Giroux. "But it just gives guys an opportunity to step up and embrace it."
Giroux's absence was evident throughout the game, especially on the power play.
Atkinson scored the lone goal for the Flyers and has been arguably their most consistent player all season.
"There's definitely a void when your captain's not there," Atkinson said. "But I thought the guys did a great job, especially on the bench communicating and just staying positive, like when our guy blocked a shot or made a play to win their 1-on-1 battle. I think we need more of that, and certainly some guys were doing that. Definitely more of that going forward."
In a frustrating season, solid chances continue to exist for Philadelphia's young players.
"And now some other people get some opportunities," Flyers interim head coach Mike Yeo said. "I'm not going to blame the loss on that by any means. It's something that people are going to have to figure out. They're going to have to embrace it.
"The bottom line is, if you're a gamer, you want those situations, you want those minutes, you want those opportunities."
--Field Level Media