Rick Tocchet’s Philadelphia Flyers (3-3-1) are home on Saturday afternoon to take on Patrick Roy’s New York Islanders (4-3-0). The game marks the start of a five-game homestand for the Flyers, and the fifth match of a nine-in-ten home stretch. The Flyers are 3-1-0 at home to date.
Game time at Xfinity Mobile Arena is 12:30 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on NBCSP and 97.5 The Fanatic.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 2-1 road loss to the Ottawa Senators. Tyson Foerster (3rd goal of the season) notched the lone Philadelphia tally. Dan Vladar stopped 31 of 33 shots in a losing cause.
Meanwhile, the Islanders have won back-to-back games. Roy’s club is coming off a 7-2 home blowout win over the Detroit Red Wings. Emil Heineman led the way with two goals while longtime Flyers nemesis Mathew Barzal chipped in with a goal and an assist. On Saturday, the Flyers will have to deal with 18-year-old Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer. The first overall pick of the 2025 Draft already looks like a blossoming star on the New York blue line.
Saturday’s game is the Flyers’ first Metro Division game of the young season. The Flyers and Islanders will play each other again on Nov. 28 in Elmont, Jan. 26 in Philadelphia and April 3 in Elmont.
Here are the RAV4 Things to watch on Saturday. All four relate to areas where the Flyers showed progress during their 3-1-0 homestand but took a backward step during Thursday’s loss in Ottawa.
1. Defensive structure.
Vladar’s play was the main reason why the Flyers held the Senators to two goals on Thursday. Meanwhile, the opponent scored goals off a cross-seam pass and a backdoor slam dunk while accumulating 33 shots on goal.
To get right back on track, the Flyers must re-establish the sort of shot suppression they showed against Winnipeg, Minnesota and Seattle. The opposing shot volumes were very low and, for the most part, were contained to the perimeter.
2. Discipline.
Over the first three games of the season, the Flyers had an issue with excessive penalties (15 minors). In two of the next three matches, the Flyers showed much better discipline. However, on Thursday, the previous problem returned. The Flyers found themselves shorthanded five times.
Moreover, each and every penalty the Flyers took was one on the stick foul variety: a telltale sign of players not keeping their feet moving consistently enough.
The Flyers’ penalty kill has been stout this season so far (86.2 percent).That’s a positive. Nevertheless, excessive PK time (even when successful in preventing goals) has two negative consequences: 1) It takes the non-PK personnel out of the flow of play and 2) It over-taxes the PKers with “hard minutes” that could wear them down by crunch time in the third period.
3. Flyers power play.
The Flyers enjoyed a 2-for-4 night on the power play in dealing Seattle its first regulation loss of the 2025-26 season. Heading into Thursday’s game against a struggling Ottawa penalty kill, the Flyers looked to build further momentum from their power play.
Instead, the power play against Ottawa was a momentum-killer for Philadelphia. It wasn’t simply because the Flyers went 0-for-3, it was because they let a lengthy 4-on-3 opportunity go to waste in a one-goal game. Meanwhile, the team did not generate much pressure at 5-on-4.
Entering Saturday’s game, the Flyers are 28th in the NHL at 13.6 percent on the power play (3-for-22 plus a shorthanded goal yielded). The Islanders are 5-for-25 (25 percent) to date. However, if the Flyers can win the special teams battle on Saturday, they have a good chance to prevail in the game.
4. Winning key faceoffs.
Team faceoff percentages are calculated as a cumulative stat. The Flyers, overall, are one of the NHL’s better faceoff clubs. That’s especially true when Sean Couturier or Christian Dvorak take the draw.
However, not all faceoffs are created equal. A neutral zone faceoff, especially at the center ice dot, means much less than an offensive zone or defensive zone draw. Meanwhile, special teams faceoffs often take on added significance.
Against Ottawa, the Flyers did fine on their shorthanded faceoffs but lost otherwise lost some of the game’s most important draws when they would have benefited from instant puck possession.
When looking at faceoffs, dig a bit deeper than the raw percentage and look at situational faceoffs and faceoff locations.
For example, Couturier’s overall 60 percent winning percentage on draws is impressive. To really appreciate how strong he’s been on key faceoffs, however, these indicators are more important: 65.4 percent on defensive zone faceoffs and 54.8 percent on offensive zone draws. He 41.9 percent on the least important (neutral zone) faceoffs.
Noah Cates is another good example. He’s 61.5 percent on penalty kill faceoffs, where possession off the draw is vital. Overall, he’s 59.5 percent in the defensive zone. On the flip side, Cates has room to improve his power play (PP2 unit) faceoffs: 36.4 percent and his overall offensive zone winning percentage (45.8 percent).
