Flyers Get Split-Squad Split to Open Preseason

Report From Philadelphia Flyers

It was a solid effort front-to-back for the Flyers in Allentown on Monday night as they beat the New York Islanders 5-3 at PPL Center, the home of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Five different Flyers scored, including Travis Konecny, who had an impressive first game in a Flyers uniform.

In the Flyers first ever trip to Brooklyn, a comeback attempt fell short as they dropped a 3-2 decision to the Islanders in their new home building, the Barclays Center. After falling behind 3-0, Brayden Schenn and Taylor Leier scored to bring the Flyers within one goal, but the Islanders held on for the win. The game also featured the mandatory 3 on 3 overtime period for a five-minutes, but neither team scored during the extra session.

Below are news, notes & quotes from both contests…

AT PPL CENTER – FLYERS 5, ISLANDERS 3

• Jake Voracek and Ryan White wore the “A” alongside captain Claude Giroux.

• Michal Neuvirth went the distance in net, making 16 saves.

• Travis Konecny played his first NHL preseason game and scored the Flyers’ second goal.

“I think my first shift, I got the legs going, made a couple hits, and got the feel of the game and the speed,” Konecny said. “I thought by the second period and into the third I was comfortable, and I was making plays that I wouldn’t have made the first or second shift into the game.”

• The Flyers scored on both their power play attempts and turned away three of four Islanders power play bids.Michael Raffl and Vincent Lecavalier had the power play tallies for the Flyers. Evgeny Medvedev picked up a secondary assist on Lecavalier’s goal.

• Medvedev, a 33-year-old Russian defenseman, and Ivan Provorov, an 18-year-old Russian defenseman, each played their first NHL preseason games.

“Provorov obviously, he’s been over here and he’s played on the NHL ice,” said Flyers head coach Dave Hakstol. “For Evgeny, I thought it was a good first time. The game is different on the smaller sheet, but he moved the puck pretty well, dealing with time and space defensively, he’s going to continue to make that adjustment. But overall I thought he played pretty well.”

• Michael Del Zotto scored the Flyers’ fourth goal, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare wrapped the scoring with a late empty netter.

• The Flyers outshot the Islanders 29-18. Michael Del Zotto, Vincent Lecavalier and R.J. Umberger were each credited with four shots to pace the Flyers. Individual ice times and other expanded stats were not kept due to the game not being played in an NHL building.

AT BARCLAYS CENTER – ISLANDERS 3, FLYERS 2

• Wayne Simmonds, Andrew MacDonald and Sean Couturier wore the “A” in the game at Brooklyn, NY.

• Jason LaBarbera got the start in net… He stopped 18 of 20 shots through nearly 31 minutes of play. LaBarbera’s first real test came around the 13-minute mark of the first period when he made a great point-blank save on Kirill Petrov.

• Anthony Stolarz stopped seven of eight shots in relief, including all four shots he faced in the third period. His biggest test came when he made a great save on John Tavares nearing the end of the second period on a 2 on 1 down low.

• Radko Gudas played his first game as a Flyer and first game since Dec. 29, 2014.

“It felt great. It’s been almost nine months so I’m glad that’s behind me. Obviously a win would have been nicer but I thought we did a pretty good job overall,” said Gudas. “Since I’ve been here in camp the intensity has picked up and we’re playing a more physical game as the practices go on and it helped me prepare as much as I could, but the season is ahead of us and the games are important for me and as much as I can get before the season starts it’s going to make me a better player.”

• Shayne Gostisbehere led the Flyers with over 25 minutes of ice time in the game (25:14) which included an NHL mandatory 3 on 3 overtime period. He registered two of the Flyers three shots in the first period.

• Taylor Leier scored his first goal in a Flyer uniform when he fired it over Jaroslav Halak from the right side with under a minute left in the second period. He actually scored it with teammate Danick Martel’s stick who gave it to him from the bench when Leier broke his stick earlier on the shift.

“I had a lot of fun tonight. Even though we lost, it was exciting to get out there and the guys put in a really good effort,” said Leier. “I haven’t played an actual game since Apr. 21 so it’s been a really long time and the first 4-5 shifts were pretty edgy and jumpy and then I settled in.”

• Wayne Simmonds led all players in the game with five shots on goal.

The Flyers continue their preseason schedule tomorrow night vs. the New York Rangers at 7 PM at the Wells Fargo Center.