Flyers split split-squad matchups against NY Islanders

Welcome to the Flyers preseason everyone. Wednesday night, the Flyers played in two separate games: one in Allentown, PA and the other in Brooklyn, NY. Most people were probably looking for a lot of the veterans like Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds to play, but they will most likely play Thursday in the preseason game against the Bruins. Shayne Gostisbehere, however, did play in the game in Allentown.

Here are the players that played in each game.

FLYERS ROSTER AT ISLANDERS – BROOKLYN, NY

Forwards – Greg Carey, Phil Varone, Danick Martel, Michael Raffl, Scott Laughton, Travis Konecny, Cole Bardreau, Mikhail Vorobyev, Jordan Weal, Radel Fazleev, Connor Bunnaman, Mike Vecchione

Defensemen- T.J Brennan, Will O’Neill, Mark Friedman, Reece Wilcox, Phillipe Myers, Maxim Lamarche

Goaltenders – Alex Lyon, Carter Hart

FLYERS ROSTER VS ISLANDERS – ALLENTOWN, PA

Forwards – Jori Lehtera, Dale Weise, Matt Read, Corban Knight, Colin McDonald, Oskar Lindblom, Taylor Leier, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, German Rubtsov, Nolan Patrick, Pascal Laberge, Carsen Twarynski

Defensemen – Brandon Manning, Mark Alt, Robert Hagg, Sam Morin, Shayne Gostisbehere, Travis Sanheim

Goaltenders – Michal Neuvirth, Leland Irving

For this post, a majority of the focus will be on the game that took place in Allentown, but here are the basics from the Flyers at Islanders game.

Brooklyn Matchup – Flyers lose 3-2

Flyers Goals: Travis Konecny (1), assists: Will O’Neill, Greg Carey; T.J Brennan (1)(Power Play), assist: Travis Konecny

Islanders Goals: Devon Toews (1), assist: Jeff Kubiak; Johnny Boychuk (1), assists: Connor Jones, Yannick Turcotte; Andrew Ladd (1)(Power Play), assist: Jordan Eberle

The fact that Travis Konecny was able to get two points in the first game of the preseason is showing (slash confirming) my prediction this season for TK. He is going to have a stellar year if he continues the performance that he had. Alex Lyon and Carter Hart were the goaltenders for that game, however only Alex Lyon saw any ice time, stopped 26 shots on 29 saves.

Allentown Matchup – Flyers win 3-2 in OT

Flyers Goals: Taylor Leier (1)(Power Play), assist: Dale Weise; Taylor Leier (2)(Power Play), assist: Shayne Gostisbehere; Shayne Gostisbehere (1), assist: Nolan Patrick

Islanders Goals: Mathew Barzal (2)(Power Play), assists: Josh Ho-Sang, Ryan Pulock; Anders Lee (1), assist: Brock Nelson

There were a lot of great things that came out of the game last night vs the Islanders in Allentown, but there are few key things that I’ll address.

1. Michal Neuvirth looked pretty solid in the game for the periods that he played. He played the first 2 periods stopping 16 of 17 Islander shots. There was a particular sequence of shots from the Islanders towards the end of the 2nd period where Neuvirth had to be on in order to make those saves and he did. The only goal he allowed was the first goal of the game where the Islanders had a 5-on-3 power play due to two slashing penalties.
2. Speaking of penalties, that game was full of them. Now before the preseason started, I knew of some of the rule changes, like how the slashing penalty was going to be more strickly enforced. I did not know about the delay of game penalty off the faceoff. The game had a total of 11 power plays. 11 for both sides with 6 of them going the Islanders way. The Flyers will have to learn how to control the penalties or it’ll be a rough season for Flyers fans.
3. How about the game from Taylor Leier? Leier, a player that was getting overlooked in training camp so far needed a huge game in order to make himself known. He had no problem doing that in the game. Two power play goals with the first unit, a lot of shots on offense, and some good plays in the Flyers zone. He is still a bit shaky as to his status making the Flyers roster, but as he turns the Islanders heads, he will make Hakstol give him a few more looks.
4. Affectionately called the “Kid Line” by Keith Jones in the broadcast, the line of Nolan Patrick, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Oskar Lindblom was a line that made a spectacular impact together. Patrick and Lindblom had some great chemistry together, and Patrick was able to feed Lindblom some great passes for shots on goal. And that Patrick pass to Ghost during 3-on-3? Yeah, that’s one that we can look forward to this season. There is no doubt in my mind that Patrick and Lindblom make the final Flyers roster but we will have to see how they perform. Oh, and Patrick recorded his first NHL point of hopefully many.
5.  Sam Morin looked great out there, making big hits and managing to get under the skin of some of the Islanders players. He said that he would not risk injury by fighting any body in the preseason, and he kept that promise in that game in Allentown, although you can tell that he wanted to. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with if he starts the season with the Flyers.
6. My favorite player of the night had to be Travis Sanheim. He started out the game strong but got more and more confident in himself and his play as the night went on. Flyers had a 4-on-4 opportunity and that was the moment where Sanheim really shined, at least for me. He was constantly pushing the puck towards the net, taking shot after shot and there were a few that were very close to going in. I’m confident that Sanheim has a good shot at making the Flyers roster, but I want to see him play a few more preseason games first. But based on that game, Sanheim has more than a fair chance at cracking the Flyers opening roster.