The Game: 7:30 p.m., NBCSP, ESPN+, 97.5 The Fanatic
Oh boy, another battle between the Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Club and the New York Long Islanders. We’re going to experience some form of hockey-related unentertainment as these two teams collide belly-first into one another to the result of a three-point game and both fan bases never wanting to think about this game ever again.
This is what happens when the Flyers want to play some process-first hockey and aiming to be a team that is greater than the sum of its parts, and then the Islanders are doing the exact same thing but with one of the better netminders in their crease and some more talent across the roster. And so far, both teams aren’t really in the position they want to be.
While the hypercompetitive teams like the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Montreal Canadiens, and Columbus Blue Jackets are scratching and clawing to finish higher than projected and squish themselves into the final Wild Card spot, the Flyers and Islanders are just coasting. Below the layer of grit and grime that those teams have formed, these two are just hanging out. Mediocre for different reasons but the result has more or less been the exact same for both clubs.
Now, we will get to see what happens when two grey blobs of hockey teams try to score on one another. Hell, maybe both goaltenders will fall into peril and we’ll stumble our way into an exciting hockey game that features some endless odd-man rushes with Mat Barzal on one side and a combination of Travis Konecny and Bobby Brink (for some reason) on the other.
Storylines to watch
Jamie Drysdale’s run of good performances
Jamie Drysdale has been exceeding the short-term expectations. Maybe the Flyers just gave him some special juice while he was off for a month due to injury, but since he has come back he has been otherworldly. Probably the Flyers’ best blueliner, he has been controlling play in all three zones and has even been producing some well-earned points.
Hopefully, he can sneak in some more and if goals actually happen in this game and we aren’t going to a 1-0 shootout win, Drysdale will be involved.
Ilya Sorokin showing what good goaltending gets you
You look at the forwards for both teams and see similar structure. Barzal and Konecny, Horvat and Michkov, Nelson and Couturier, Pageau and Cates — there are players that kind of cancel one another out. And then on the blue line, the raw talent goes to the Islanders but this season, the Flyers’ defensemen have proved more than worthy with real, solid play. And then you look at the goaltending and it might be the largest discrepancy in talent you have ever laid your eyes on.
Sam Ersson has not been good this season, even with a run of form that makes him appear normal; but when it comes to raw talent alone, Ilya Sorokin feels otherworldly. This season, he has earned an average .902 save percentage, but considering his career save percentage when combining the previous 192 appearances is a .919 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average, we can maybe see what a true No. 1 backstop can look like.
Joel Farabee back in the lineup
Maybe above everything, the most interesting storyline heading into Thursday’s game is winger Joel Farabee being back in the lineup. The 25-year-old has not seen the ice since the Flyers’ embarrassing 4-1 defeat to the Dallas Stars, and since then this team has earned five of the six available points, including a monstrous win over the reigning Stanley Cup champions and a bloodbath victory over Cutter Gauthier and his Ducks. Those performances without Farabee has kept him out of the lineup but after a shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, it was just enough to get him back.
This is really the time to prove something for Farabee. He has been the odd man out for the entire season. Bobby Brink has now found success without him and with Tyson Foerster and Noah Cates, and Farabee has yet to really find a partner in this depth role. If he’s not scoring — and he certainly has not this season with just 14 points in 42 games — then what is he doing?
Any game Farabee is involved in, could be his last in Philadelphia.
Projected lineups
Philadelphia Flyers
Tyson Foerster – Noah Cates – Bobby Brink
Owen Tippett – Morgan Frost – Travis Konecny
Joel Farabee – Sean Couturier – Matvei Michkov
Scott Laughton – Ryan Poehling – Garnet Hathaway
Cam York – Travis Sanheim
Egor Zamula – Rasmus Ristolainen
Nick Seeler – Jamie Drysdale
Sam Ersson
(Ivan Fedotov)
New York Islanders
Anders Lee — Brock Nelson — Mat Barzal
Maxim Tsyplakov — Bo Horvat — Kyle Palmieri
Anthony Duclair — J.G. Pageau — Casey Cizikas
Matt Martin — Kyle MacLean — Pierre Engvall
Isaiah George — Noah Dobson
Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock
Dennis Cholowski — Scott Mayfield
Ilya Sorokin
(Marcus Hogberg)
