The Flyers return to the Wells Fargo Center Saturday at 4-6-0, their most regulation losses through the first 10 games of a season since 2013-14.
Good news, the 3-4-1 New York Islanders are in town.
A few loose pucks:
When: 1 p.m. ET with Flyers Pregame Live at 12:30 p.m.
Where: Wells Fargo Center
Broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Stream: NBCSportsPhiladelphia.com and the NBC Sports MyTeams app
• Sean Couturier said after Thursday's 3-0 loss in Boston that "it’s not time to panic." Perhaps it is. Ten games into the season, the Flyers look defeated. That should not happen.
We've seen this story before with this Flyers club and if we've learned anything from last season, it is a resilient group. It's still early in the season and there's plenty of time to right this ship, but there are serious concerns here.
This is nothing new. The Flyers have been notoriously slow starters under Dave Hakstol. Their penalty kill has been heinously embarrassing with Ian Laperriere at the wheel, and it continues to be this season. The power play has been a disappointment.
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There are so many open wounds here that need to be closed. Hakstol did his part Friday by firmly issuing a public challenge to his players (see story). Let's see how the Flyers respond Saturday. It'll be telling in the long run.
• Michal Neuvirth is healthy (for now) and will make his season debut against the Islanders. Hakstol spoke Friday about the Flyers needing a spark and how that doesn't necessarily mean a goaltender. Hakstol was right.
While the goaltending hasn't been good, it also hasn't been the team's biggest wart, at least of late. Brian Elliott has been better and he was solid Thursday night. Still, it can be better and Neuvirth is an upgrade over Calvin Pickard.
Don't expect Neuvirth to light the fire Saturday. If this team continues to break down defensively, it doesn't matter who's in net. But Neuvirth's return is welcomed. He's won his past three regular-season games!
• Hold up, wait a minute … Valtteri Filppula leads the Islanders in goals? You read that correctly, the former Flyer has four goals on the season. Miss John Tavares, much?
• The Islanders, though, do have Mathew Barzal, who can do incredible things with the puck. The second-year center leads the Isles with eight points in eight games. He presents a huge problem for this Flyers defense.
• It looks like Mikhail Vorobyev will finally get back in the lineup with Jordan Weal expected to sit out. This is a huge game for Vorobyev because if he draws back in and looks out of place, the rookie would likely be on his way to Lehigh Valley.
• Islanders head coach Barry Trotz had this to say about playing in Philadelphia:
Pretty funny stuff.
Projected lineup
Forwards
Claude Giroux-Sean Couturier-Travis Konecny
Oskar Lindblom-Nolan Patrick-Jakub Voracek
Scott Laughton-Mikhail Vorobyev-Wayne Simmonds
Corban Knight-Jori Lehtera-Dale Weise
Defensemen
Ivan Provorov-Robert Hagg
Shayne Gostisbehere-Andrew MacDonald
Travis Sanheim-Radko Gudas
Goaltenders
Michal Neuvirth
Brian Elliott
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