A position-by-position look at Islanders vs. Flyers

They are divisional rivals dating to 1974, first in the Patrick, then in the Atlantic and now in the Metropolitan. But it’s been more than three decades since the Islanders and Flyers have been playoff foes.

That ends Monday night, when the teams open their best-of-seven, second-round series at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The Flyers, the Eastern Conference’s top seed, eliminated the Canadiens in six games despite being outscored 13-11 in the series while the Islanders ousted the Capitals in five games.

“They’re a [division] opponent, they’re a great team,” Flyers center and former Ranger Kevin Hayes said. “There’s a reason they won so quickly against the Capitals. They’ve got a good goalie. They play great team defense and they have some good forwards.”

The Flyers have won three of the four playoff meetings between the teams, but they have not met since 1987 when the Flyers won a seven-game Patrick Division final.

The Islanders last advanced past the second round in 1993 while the Flyers haven’t been to a conference final since 2010.

Here’s a position by position look at both teams:

Forwards

The Flyers have scorers and responsible two-way players sprinkled throughout their lineup as, similar to the Islanders, they roll four lines. Top-line right wing Jakub Voracek had three goals and three assists in the last four games against the Canadiens. Hayes, centering the second line, has a goal and six assists in nine postseason games. His right wing, Travis Konecny (24 goals, 37 assists) led the Flyers in regular-season scoring. Longtime top-six forwards Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk have been used in the bottom six during the playoffs.

The Islanders must keep the streaky Hayes and van Riemsdyk from getting hot. Eleven of the 14 Islanders forwards who dressed against the Capitals notched at least one point and the second line of Brock Nelson (one goal, two assists) between Anthony Beauvillier (three goals, one assist) and Josh Bailey (two goals, four assists) was the most consistent. Mathew Barzal’s top line with Anders Lee, who had goals in each of the first three games against the Capitals, and Jordan Eberle, also had strong shifts dominating puck possession. The question is whether fourth-line right wing Cal Clutterbuck can return for Game 1 after missing Game 5 against the Capitals. Edge: Even

Defensemen

The Flyers will get Matt Niskanen (eight goals, 25 assists in the regular season) back from his one-game suspension for Game 6 after breaking the jaw of the Canadiens’ Brendan Gallagher. He is averaging 22:05 of ice time and Ivan Provorov (13 goals, 23 assists) is averaging a team-high 25:14. But Travis Sanheim (eight goals, 17 assists) is the only other Flyers defenseman averaging more than 20 minutes per game.

The Islanders’ defense depth was tested quickly when Johnny Boychuk was injured in Game 1 of the four-game qualifying-series win over the Panthers. Former Devils captain Andy Greene’s steady play has kept Boychuk from re-entering the lineup. The top pair of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock mostly stifled the Capitals’ potent scorers even with Alex Ovechkin scoring four goals. But the minutes have been spread fairly evenly among the six defensemen. Edge: Islanders

Goalies

The Flyers’ endless search for a No. 1 goalie may have finally ended with 22-year-old Carter Hart, who is 6-2-0 with a 1.71 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage in the postseason. Backup Brian Elliott has NHL playoff experience with four teams.

Semyon Varlamov has played every postseason minute for the Islanders, compiling a 7-2-0 mark with a 1.67 GAA and a .934 save percentage. He capped the Capitals’ series with a 21-save shutout, his third career playoff shutout and first since 2009. Backup Thomas Greiss had similar regular-season numbers to Varlamov. Edge: Even

Power play

The Flyers went 4-for-28 (14.3%) against the Canadiens and were largely ineffectual in the series except for a 3-for-7 performance in Game 5 as Voracek scored twice on the man advantage and Joel Farabee also scored. In theory, both of the Flyers’ units should be more dangerous, with Sean Couturier, Provorov and Giroux also on the first unit and Hayes, van Riemsdyk and Konecny leading the second unit. The Islanders were 2-for-22 (9.1%) against the Capitals but slowly improved their shoot-first mentality, going 0-for-5 with 12 shots in a 3-2 loss in Game 4 and 1-for-3 in Thursday’s 4-0 clinching win. Nelson’s unit with Beauvillier, Bailey, Pageau and defenseman Devon Toews has been the better combination. Edge: Even

Penalty kill

The Canadiens scored three power-play goals in seven chances in the first two games and the Flyers’ 16-of-21 (76.2%) penalty kill allowed a goal in each of the last two games. The Islanders killed off 14 of 18 Capitals’ power plays (77.8%) but were better after T.J. Oshie scored twice on the man advantage in Game 1. In the regular season, the Flyers ranked 11th at 81.8% and the Islanders were 15th at 81.2%. Edge: Even

Coaching

The Islanders' Barry Trotz won a Stanley Cup with the Capitals in 2018 and the Flyers’ Alain Vigneault took the Canucks (2011) and Rangers (2014) to the Cup Final.

Both typically get maximum efforts from their players, allow leadership to develop organically in the dressing room and adapt well to the personnel they have, rather than forcing players into a system. Edge: Even

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.