Islanders Revving Up to Face Flyers

It's been 193 days since the most recent meeting between the New York Islanders and Philadelphia Flyers and it's been a staggering 33 years since squaring up in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But on Monday night at 7 p.m. ET, the two Metropolitan Division opponents will go head-to-head in their Second-Round series at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena.

The Islanders advanced to the next round on Thursday with a 4-1 series win over the Washington Capitals, whereas the Flyers moved on with a 3-2 Game 6 victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night.
After defeating two high-flying opponents in the Florida Panthers [Qualifying Round] and the Caps, the Isles and Flyers matchup should present a fresh challenge as both teams adhere to a similar style of structured and balanced play.
"They have a good mix of size and skill," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "They're pretty deep at the forward position. There's some similarities as well."

READ: SECOND ROUND SERIES PREVIEW: ISLANDERS VS. FLYERS
Through nine games and essentially two series, the Isles have gone 7-2-0, outscored their opponents 28-15, had 10 different players find the back of the net and allowed a league-low of six five-on-five goals. They have allowed an average of 1.67 goals per game.
In the postseason, the Flyers completed the same 7-2-0 record, have outscored their opponents 22-16, also received goals from 10 different skaters, posted two shutouts, and of the teams still active, have the highest faceoff win percentage at 56.4%. The Flyers have averaged 1.78 goals-against-per-game.
"They've got good structure, defensively," Trotz added. "They will be aggressive in terms of forecheck, their D gets up in the play. They have a real good balance in terms of the offensive part and the defensive part. They manage pucks pretty well and do all of those things you need to do to have success in this league."
While the Islanders swept the season series 3-0-0 in a commanding - and at times dramatic - fashion against the Flyers, it's been nearly seven months since the two teams last collided. Leading up to the NHL's pause on March 12, the two teams were in very different positions.
The Flyers were the team to beat in the Eastern Conference as they had surged up the Metropolitan Division standings and finished second in the division, just one point behind the Caps. Through the last 10 games leading up to the pause, Philadelphia posted a 9-1-0 record.

For the Isles - who were plagued with injuries at the time - they were clawing and vying for a final spot to reach the postseason after dropping to sixth in the Metropolitan Division and going 4-2-4 through their last 10 games.
"[The regular season series] has no bearing on where we are right now and where the teams are right now," Trotz said. "It seems like it was years ago since we played them. This seems like forever. I don't think it has any bearing at all. There's two pretty good teams that are going to square off. What you're doing now really matters more than what you did before. There's zero bearing on these games."
Considering that both teams are among the final eight playing this season, the Isles are expecting a stiff test.
"Both sides are going to be looking to improve upon where they stand currently and demand more from one another and expect to raise our game," Anders Lee said. "Every round gets that much tougher. The intensity, the desperation - the things you talk about all of the time - they all increase as you move on. We're going to have the same sentiment in that regard. It's just continuing to build upon the game we play, and when we play it the right way how successful we are. Just sticking to that and improving on the little things."
Despite facing one another on a consistent basis throughout the regular season, at a minimum of four times, the two Metro members have not crossed paths in the postseason since 1987. On top of the similar styles of play, the postseason meeting adds extra intensity to a divisional rivalry.

"Any time you have a division matchup in the playoff, that rivalry is going to increase a little bit. We see each other - it used to be five times a year - now, it's four. Our division, the Metropolitan Division, has been a top division in the league for many seasons now. Everyone one of our division games has that much more importance on it if you want to make a move into the playoffs. Every time we see these guys or anyone else in the division, it's a pretty intense game. That's going to be no different coming up into the next round."

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For Derick Brassard, the Isles-Flyers series means he'll be going head-to-head against his former coach, Alain Vigneault, who he played for during his time with the New York Rangers. As Blueshirts, Vigneault led Brassard the team to the Stanley Cup Final in 2014, where they lost 4-1 to the Los Angeles Kings.
Brassard can attest to the similar styles of coaching and how detail-oriented Trotz and Vigneault both are as the matchup gets underway.
"I have nothing but good things to say about AV, he's a good coach," Brassard said. "His team is going to be ready to go. It's going to be a big series against us. It should be fun for the fans. I'm just expecting AV to prepare his team really well like he did all season long."