The Islanders have a real must-win game Monday night in Philadelphia.
The Islanders trail the Flyers by five points for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with nine games left, but the Islanders have two games left against Philadelphia.
If the Islanders win in regulation, they will be in control of their own destiny in the race against the Flyers. A loss would mean the season is over for Patrick Roy’s team.
Adding to the drama is the fact that the bookmaker started the game as a coin toss.
Neither the Islanders nor the Flyers are in great shape.
The Islanders are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games, coming off a 3-2 win over the Panthers and then a 4-1 loss to the Lightning, who finished 1-1 all over Florida.
Islanders vs. Flyers predictions
(7 p.m. ET, ESPN+)
These results are pretty much a microcosm of what the 2023-24 regular season will look like for the Islanders.
He was able to show off some strong plays, especially under coach Roy, but has been plagued by inconsistency since October.
Islanders fans have found themselves frustrated throughout the season because whenever the team fixes an area of their game, another problem seems to surface.
The Islanders have played a strong defense of late, limiting opponents to just 77 dangerous scoring chances at 5-on-5, but they have struggled tremendously to find the back of the net.
The Islanders have scored just 19 goals in their past 10 games, with six of those goals coming in one game.
The Flyers are a much more consistent team than the Islanders, but they are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games and have given up 41 points in that span.
Adding to the frustration is that Philadelphia hasn’t played that bad during this stretch.
The Flyers typically create more scoring chances at 5-on-5 than their opponents, but they aren’t making saves.
Rookie goaltender Samuel Elson, who entered the season as a reserve, was thrust into the starting role due to the suspension of Carter Hart, who was implicated in Hockey Canada’s sexual assault scandal.
Elson has done a great job this season, but he’s been out of form as of late, and the Flyers clearly feared the 24-year-old was experiencing burnout after bringing in Ivan Fedotov from the KHL. ing.
Fedotov, 27, is 6-foot-7 and has put up strong numbers in his KHL and international career, but has never played a professional game in North America.
No one knows if manager John Tortorella will roll the dice on Fedotov or start Elson, but the Flyers will want to play a decent defensive game to shut down the netminder as much as possible. seems to be quite safe.
The Islanders have no problem with that type of contest, and it should be a pretty volatile game, especially early on, with both teams focusing on playing cleanly and not making mistakes.
Would you bet on the NHL?
I’m betting on this being a low-volume game with value on the under, but I’d also like to keep an eye on the first period, which ended 0-0 as both teams tried to get a feel for each other. think. Basically a playoff game.
Recommendation: Less than 0.5 goals in 1st period (+350, FanDuel)
Michael Levoff analyzes the NHL’s Action Network.
