Time is of the essence.
Around the NHL, the right teams lost. However, the Philadelphia Flyers (37-26-12) can’t get out of their own way. They’ve had consecutive chances to make up ground in pursuit of a postseason berth. Losses to the Washington Capitals and the Detroit Red Wings have stifled that progress.
To call tonight’s game a ‘must-win’ is accurate. That sentiment ought to be a copy-and-paste situation for the rest of the 2025-2026 NHL Regular Season for the Flyers. The New York Islanders (42-29-5) hold the last playoff spot in the NHL Metropolitan Division. Philadelphia is in pursuit of that position as much as they’re in the hunt for the NHL Eastern Conference Wildcard. If the distance isn’t shortened tonight, the time might expire.
At the worst time, the Flyers are slumping. A two-game losing streak is quite a hole with seven games remaining to make the postseason. However, the Islanders are on the same cold streak.
Rick Tocchet put Samuel Ersson in the net to begin this critical back-to-back. If Dan Vladař can turn in a performance that represents the majority of his 2025-2026 season, Philadelphia has a fighting chance.
Tale of the Tape
- Power Play: 17% (30th) New York Islanders
- Power Play: 15.3% (32nd) Philadelphia Flyers
- Penalty Kill: 81% (10th) New York Islanders
- Penalty Kill: 78% (21st) Philadelphia Flyers
- Faceoff: 52.7% (5th) New York Islanders
- Faceoff: 49.2% (23rd) Philadelphia Flyers
- Goals For: 2.87 (22nd) New York Islanders
- Goals For: 2.84 (23rd) Philadelphia Flyers
- Goals Against: 2.84 (5th) New York Islanders
- Goals Against: 3 (12th) Philadelphia Flyers
Injury Report: Philadelphia Flyers
Injury Report: New York Islanders
- Tony DeAngelo (lower body)
- Alexander Romanov (shoulder)
- Kyle Palmieri (knee)
When: 7pm/ET
Where: UBS Arena; Elmont, NY
Watch: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Last Game PHI: 4/2/26; 4-2 L; vs. Detroit Red Wings
Last Game NYI: 3/31/26; 4-3 L; at Buffalo Sabres
Philadelphia Flyers
Vladař (24-13-7, 2.5GAA, 90.4%SV) will start to complete the back-to-back. In sports, it’s good to have a short memory, and that’ll be important for Vladař, who flopped against the Capitals. A stellar performance, especially one that results in a win, will be huge for his confidence and the rest of the team.
Travis Konecny (27G, 39A, +12) and Porter Martone (1A, +1) dragged the Flyers into the fight. They combined for a scoring play last night, and lately, Martone has been a one-man firing squad. He’s done everything but score his first NHL goal. In addition to those two, Matvei Michkov (16G, 24A, -9) needs to rebound from his poor performance versus the Red Wings. Alex Bump (3G, 3A, +1) will re-enter the lineup, hopefully serving as a boost on offense.
“We’ve talked about that, those greasy type of players. He’s [Porter Martone] got nine shots last game. He’s hitting the net. He comes up with loose pucks. There’s a lot to love about the guy. He’s got a great career ahead of him. We don’t want to put too much pressure on him. I just want [him] to continue the path he’s going. He loves information. He’s great. We’ve had him for two days and we already love coaching him.” – Rick Tocchet; 4/3/2026
Emil Andrae (2G, 11A, +14) remains a focal point tonight on defense. Lately, he’s turned in solid minutes on the ice. He doesn’t shy away from physical play; however, he’s taken more hits than he needs to. If he can fine-tune his defensive awareness in terms of protecting himself, it’ll be huge for Philadelphia’s defensive unit.
Projected Lineup: Philadelphia Flyers
Tyson Foerster – Trevor Zegras – Owen Tippett
Travis Konecny – Christian Dvorak – Porter Martone
Alex Bump – Noah Cates – Matvei Michkov
Sean Couturier – Luke Glendening – Carl Grundström
Travis Sanheim – Rasmus Ristolainen
Cam York – Jamie Drysdale
Nick Seeler – Emil Andrae
Dan Vladař
(Samuel Ersson)
Projected Lineup: New York Islanders
Anders Lee – Bo Horvat – Emil Heineman
Calum Ritchie – Brayden Schenn – Mathew Barzal
Ondřej Palát – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Simon Holmström
Kyle MacLean – Casey Cizikas – Marc Gatcomb
Matthew Schaefer – Ryan Pulock
Adam Pelech – Carson Soucy
Scott Mayfield – Adam Boqvist
Ilya Sorokin
(David Rittich)
You must be logged in to post a comment Login