Flyers at Islanders preview

FLYERS (31-26-8) at ISLANDERS (37-20-7)
3 p.m. ET; SN1, TVAS, MSG+, NBCSP, NHL.TV

The 15-3-2 surge has pushed Philadelphia within seven points of the Montreal Canadiens, who hold the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Islanders coach Barry Trotz will make a second attempt at his 800th NHL win; New York fell short in a 3-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Friday. The Islanders, who are 1-2-0 so far on their five-game homestand, and Capitals are tied in points for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

Players to watch

Flyers forward Claude Giroux has two goals and five assists during a four-game point streak.
Islanders goalie Robin Lehner is 16-4-2 with a 1.71 goals-against average, a .943 save percentage and three shutouts in his past 22 games (21 starts).

They said it

"They'll be ready. This will be a big challenge for us. They've obviously formed an identity over the course of the season and one that's pretty good that they don't give up a lot. It'll be a challenge for us. All the game will be a challenge, but it will be a different team, different style of play that we haven't seen." -- Flyers coach Scott Gordon
"We've got to get back to where we were the first 40 (minutes on Friday), and all 60 the night before. We've got a game in hand here, just take advantage of it. The Flyers are coming into our building, an afternoon game on the weekend … reset, figure it out, take (Saturday) to recuperate and get back at it." -- Islanders captain Anders Lee

Flyers projected lineup

Claude Giroux -- Nolan Patrick -- Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek
James van Riemsdyk -- Scott Laughton -- Ryan Hartman
Michael Raffl -- Corban Knight --
Phil Varone
Ivan Provorov -- Travis Sanheim
Robert Hagg -- Radko Gudas
Shayne Gostisbehere --
Philippe Myers
Brian Elliott
Cam Talbot
Scratched: Samuel Morin, Andrew MacDonald
Injured: Michal Neuvirth (lower body), Carter Hart (ankle)

Islanders projected lineup

Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Jordan Eberle
Anthony Beauvillier -- Mathew Barzal -- Josh Bailey
Andrew Ladd -- Valtteri Filppula -- Leo Komarov
Ross Johnston -- Casey Cizikas -- Cal Clutterbuck
Nick Leddy -- Johnny Boychuk

Adam Pelech -- Ryan Pulock
Devon Toews -- Scott Mayfield
Robin Lehner
Thomas Greiss
Scratched: Tom Kuhnhackl, Thomas Hickey, Luca Sbisa
Injured: Matt Martin (upper body)

Status report

The Flyers and Islanders were off Saturday. … Trotz confirmed Ladd, who was a healthy scratch Friday, would be back in the lineup. Martin is day to day.

Stat pack

It's the first game between the Flyers and Islanders since New York's 6-1 win at Philadelphia on Oct. 27. They will play each other three times in the next three weeks. … Van Riemsdyk has four goals and two assists in his past four games; Couturier has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in his past nine. … Islanders forward Josh Bailey has two goals and six assists in his past eight games.